All about Acceptance
by morbidsweetie13
Summary: Gokudera was given a mission. A mission to befriend the Mist guardian. How the hell can he do that? This is my first fanfic so please... review it :3
1. Beginning

**All about Acceptance**

written by

morbidsweetie013

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Author's Note: Hello everybody! It's my first official fanfic, and to tell you guys the truth; I'm kinda nervous since I'm more of a reader than the writer, that's sweetangel014's job, so please forgive me for any grammatical errors. Well, I came to a thinking of 5996 since Anna-chan is hooked with 1896 and 6996 (though she prefers the former than the latter) so I thought, "Why the hell not?" 5996 needs more love anyway!

So please enjoy the story, and P.S,. Anna-chan _is_ sweetangel014

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_"The only thing that will make you happy is being happy with who you are, and not who people think you are."_

- Goldie Hawn

\*\-5996-/*/

A storm brewed within Namimori, most people have already closed their windows since harsh winds began to announce the upcoming typhoon and prepared flashlights and generators if ever the power will go out.

Hayato Gokudera tied his hair up and put on his glasses as he propped his feet on the table as he read the unabridged edition of the different ways of the Pythagorean Theory in his apartment when a soft knocking interrupted his reading. At first, he ignores it, in hopes the person will get the message and just leave. But the knocking persisted and he muttered a curse and stood up on his seat with a frown deepening on his face. He opened the door and was surprised and at the same time alerted when he saw the person outside the door. Chrome Dokuro.

The girl shifted her weight and tugged on her skirt as she shivered as a rather chilly breeze made its way through her shaking body. He cocked an eyebrow and said, "What are you doing here?" It's not like he has any grudge to the girl, well, except that time when she kissed Tsuna on the cheek. It's just that this girl… is that bastard Rokudo Mukuro's puppet. The brainwashed, helpless and temporary Mist guardian that his boss has a strange concern for. Whenever they would end a meeting, Tsuna would usually come up to her and ask her if she was eating right or if she's healthy enough during the flu season. She is the one that always ended up needing to be rescued. He'd already had that situation when she was captured by the Varia guys, namely Belphegor and Mammon. The indigo-haired girl's lip trembled and answered in a soft voice, "B-boss said he lost his phone and asked me to tell that… ano- the meeting's canceled" He looked at her and noticed her slightly damped pineapple-style hair, "Don't tell me you came here without an umbrella?" She hesitated for a moment then nodded. He smacked his hand over his eyes, 'Why am I always stuck with idiots?' he thought and groaned, "Is Kokuyo Land far from here?"

She slowly nodded and quickly noticed the way he looked and immediately followed it with, "A-ano, I-I can walk to from here, it's not that far, it would only take an hour-" "You would've been blown from the storm before you can even reach it," he cut her off and sighed, widening the door so that she can enter. She looked at him as if asking what he's trying to do. He rolled his eyes and said, "You can stay here 'til the storm's over. It will upset the tenth greatly if I let you go out there when there's a storm coming." And displeasing Tsuna will be the last thing Gokudera would like to do. She cautiously stepped through the threshold like testing the waters and stood by the wall and muttered a small thank you and an apology for the intrusion. He just shook his head and took off his eyeglasses, his mood for reading is now gone since he is now in charge of babysitting the second youngest Vongola member. He was just thankful she isn't as annoying as that stupid cow or too carefree like that baseball freak. But he can't let his guard down, she may be weak, but she's sharing a body with the notorious Rokudo Mukuro, the bastard that possessed his body with Bianchi's to get into Tsuna's body.

* * *

Chrome can't help but squirm under the teenager's glare, she didn't know why he disliked her so much, but then again, almost everyone had been hostile with her except Mukuro-sama, her Boss and even the girls (Kyoko, Haru, I-pin and Bianchi). She really doesn't understand why almost nobody accepts her existence; even her own parents have forgotten all about her and didn't even try to look for their missing daughter. Gokudera dropped his glare and 'tch-ed' and went to the sofa and turned on the television and at the same time, flicked open a lighter and lit a cigarette. 'He smokes indoors? And he's not of legal age!' she thought as thin curling smoke came from the cancer stick. Her legs started to numb but she didn't dare try to even move as the silver-haired teen shifted his head to see her shifting her weight from left foot to right and vice versa.

"Oi, don't stand there like a wallflower, take a seat if you want to" he casually stated as he put out the smoke on the ash tray he kept on the coffee table. The smell of cigarette hung on the air around them and she can't help but cough, which in turn, he made a face and said, "Sorry, you can just open the window if you want..." She immediately opened the nearest window with a space big enough for fresh air to enter and the evidence of smoke fly outside. She breathed in deeply and smelled the calming scent of rain. It's drizzling outside and a thunder suddenly rumbled, making her jump. Gokudera watched her face that turned deathly pale and and sweat beading from her forehead and her knees shaking. He almost slapped his hand on his forehead, great, he's stuck with an eye patch wearing girl who might have a phobia with thunderstorms... just effin' great.

"You might wanna stand a bit farther away from the window," he called to her as he leaned on the sofa with complete ease. She backed away from the window and just took a seat on the wooden chair next to the floor lamp. She just sits there, doing nothing, maybe thinking, he supposed. The reporter on the news discussed the growing numbers of landslides due to deforestation. He can't help but feel uneasy with a girl in his apartment, alone. Most the girls he encountered are annoying ones, like Miura Haru and the girls in his school, always looking at him and Yamamoto with hearts in their eyes and trampling all over the tenth just to get his seat in between them.

His phone rang and he picked it up and placed it to his ear, "Yeah? Oh, Reborn-san!"

"Cioassu, Gokudera. Is Chrome there?"

"Yes, she forgot her umbrella so I let her stay here for a while. Ano... is the tenth there?"

"Hm? Yeah, I'll get him; Oi, dame-Tsuna, Gokudera wants to talk to you!"

_THWACK!_

"Itai! You don't have to throw the phone you know! Hello? Gokudera-kun?"

"Jyuundaime! I heard you lost your phone! Do you need mine? I can just buy one!"

"N-no, that's generous of you though. Ah, is Chrome doing fine?"

He felt a vein throbbed as he can hear the concern in his boss' voice as he inquired about the Mist guardian's status, "She's doing fine, boss-"

"Gokudera-kun, can I ask you a favor?"

"Anything for you boss!"

"Can you be friends with her? She doesn't really have friends other than the girls. Just try to get to know each other so she can feel welcomed in the family."

At first, Gokudera wanted to retaliate, but since Tsuna's the one who asked, "I'll see what I can do, I won't disappoint you Tenth!"

"Domo arigato, Gokudera-kun. Well, bye!"

"Ja, bossu!" with that and a sigh, he placed the phone back to its cradle. He turned to Chrome who looked at him and bit her lower lip as she shivered yet again at the cold air entering form the window. He scratched the back of his head and took a deep breath; how the heck can he do this? Usually he would just turn on his grumpy look and people will stay way from him, the annoying ones will get the finger and the most annoying ones will get a taste of his bombs. He sat down and faced her with an uninterested look on his face, "Well, it's a mission. Boss told me to get to know you more, go on and say something"

"A-ano... My name is Chrome Dokuro...?"

"Idiot, I already know your name! Tell me something I don't know" he can feel a headache coming up and his hands itch towards the carton of smoke, but he had to discipline himself, he had to call quits sooner or later.

She blinked with her huge doe eye and looked around and said, "My name was Nagi... I like chocolate and animals..."

Gokudera's eyebrows rose and he just said, "Alright then let me ask you a question that has been bugging me; how the heck do you end up with that pineapple guy? You don't look like a type to just join in a mafia."

"I was in a car accident, because I was trying to save a cat... I lost my eye and most of my organs... Mukuro-sama was the one who saved me..." she explained in a small voice but the contents of her story made his eyes grow wide with shock and disgust, "What, your parents didn't donate their organs? Or they can't afford it?" She shook her head and dropped her gaze on the floor, "My mother is a candidate for transfusion but... she didn't want to give her organs for me, same with my father. I remember my mother saying that she would rather be killed first before I get any of her healthy organs..." Gokudera suddenly felt a surge of pity on her. Her parents, especially her mother will certainly top the Most Shitty Parents of the Century list; no doubt Fuuta can make one if given a chance. She continued her story, not noticing his expression as she gripped the hem of her skirt tighter, "I met Mukuro-sama when he was taking a stroll through illusions and saw me. He told me that he would let me live by giving me organs by illusions, so I'm in debt my life to him."

He can't help but look disdained as he imagined Mukuro would be even capable of doing such a thing, then again, he IS Daemon Spade's successor; and once a backstabber will always be a backstabber even if the world's turned upside-down. Owing your life to another is for honor, like he does with the Tenth, but abusing it just for your own wants is clearly despicable, namely Mukuro Rokudo. "Pl-please don't misjudge him!" she suddenly yelped, as if reading his thoughts, "Mukuro-sama just gave me a chance to live e-even though no one accepts my existence!" He gaped at her with slack-jawed mouth and repeated, "No one accepts your existence? What the hell are you talking about?"

She stared at him from his sudden outburst and replied, "W-well, everybody's been hostile with me. Mukuro-sama and bossu are the only ones who're really nice to me. Chikusa and Ken are important people to me but they just ignore me most of the time and M.M. usually insults me or sometimes... slap me..." the last part made her break her voice and looked down again as the storm guardian made a full realization about how people interacts with her, with him as no exception. So that's why the boss is so concerned with her, the girl is really in a sorry state and most people she's been with are mistreating her, from the way he heard it anyway. He scratched the back of his head and tried to lighten up the tense atmosphere that hung around them, "Well, if it makes you feel better; my existence wasn't also recognized..."

"E-eh?"

Gokudera looked away, he knew he's stepping over boundaries if he told her his past but an outsider should also help a fellow outsider, right? "My mom was a mistress. Bianchi's father is also mine but we have different mothers. Her mother is legally my dad's wife so a mistress' offspring will not be tolerated in the mafia so my dad told everyone that Bianchi's mother was also mine. They didn't accept me though and said I'm just a pianist." he shrugged as if it was no big deal. Chrome didn't look the least comforted with the information he told her, "But... you still have people who accepts you," she said, "Boss, everyone in the Vongola, almost everyone you meet. I on the other hand..."

"Jeez, cut that self-pity crap will you?" he exclaimed irritably, "Do _you_ accept your existence? Do you think you're important enough to live?" he asked whilst looking at her straight in her eye, her cheeks blushing at the close proximity her face was to his, but he didn't noticed. "Boss once said to me that worrying about what others think of you is just stupid; you better learn to accept yourself first before making others accept you!" he huffed and fell back on his seat. She said nothing and actually looked awed at the silver-haired teen. What he said made her think second thoughts about her perspective about her life. She's quiet and shy and never holds any grudge. She was called pitiful and weak by her peers (the Kokuyo gang mostly) and depends on a person whose body is imprisoned within a water tank. She's still glad she's herself and not someone else even if others mock her and her flaws. With that epiphany, she beamed at him with utmost sincerity, making him turn his head to the side with a hue of red staining his cheeks.

A lighting flashed and a thunder roared suddenly and the lights went out. Gokudera cursed and stood up and then groped his way to find a flashlight he kept in a cupboard, he felt he pressed his hands on something and the object yelped. He quickly retracted his hands and the lights suddenly flickered back on. He is standing in front of Chrome who was blushing intensely, which means he didn't wanna know what he just grabbed. He yelled a thousand apologies and his face burning as he ran towards the kitchen to retrieve the now useless flashlight. They just sat together on the sofa for the remainder of the night. Chrome slept on the couch with her head lolling at the side to fight of gravity.

'She's rather cute...' he thought but then shook it off as he reminded himself that Mukuro Rokudo is also sharing her body now and then.

He just sighed as he noticed her form shaking from the wind and cold night air and retrieved a blanket and covered her to her chin. He can't help but smile as his blanket nearly swallowed her tiny frame, She looked innocent, as she is and no one would even think she's in a mafia, much less the Vongola Familgia. She murmured things in her sleep and shifted her position to lean on his warm body instead, but strangely, he didn't mind.

* * *

It was morning when Chrome woke up. Gokudera was no where to be found so she just folded the blanket neatly and left a thank you note on top of the table after she searched for a paper and a pen, which he has a huge stock of. She looked around his apartment one more time and left, with a small grin on her face.

"Man, that meeting's long to the extreme!"

"I agree, say how about sushi at my place?"

"That's very nice of you, Yamamoto!"

"Oy, are you bribing the boss with sushi so you can butter up to him, baseball freak?"

It was a typical day for them as they stepped out of an abandoned house they'd held their meeting in. Everyone was present except Hibari and Chrome. Tsuna questioned Chrome's absence but Gokudera told him that she's at the apartment, sleeping like a rock and reported to him that he did communicate with the shy girl. This made Tsuna slightly worried since he knows Gokudera has a mean streak towards the girl for no apparent reason. They suddenly stopped walking when they saw Chrome running towards them in her Kokuyo uniform and a small handmade cellophane bag on her hands. She bowed to them and apologized for her absence, though Tsuna assured her they were just about to have another meeting regarding about it anyway. She smiled wider than usual, surprising them and turned towards Gokudera and handed him the bag full of homemade cakes, "Ano... I didn't know what you like but... I wanted to say _grazie _" She leaned in and gave him a peck on the cheek and ran off before anyone can process what happened, even Gokudera.

"What just happened?" all of them asked the blushing octopus-head.

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A/N: Well, that's it! What do you guys think? I hope it's not too OOC! If you like my story, I accept requests and Chrome pairings! Read and review please~ peace out! Signed, Lee-chan


	2. To be left alone

A/N: Thank you all so much for reviewing my first story! It was supposed to be a one shot fic but since most of you wanted more from this story, why not? I would like to thank;** Marabou**, **solitarycloud**, **ShiinaAsano**, **jenjenshim**, **DeadFlash27 **and **liondancer17**; for reviewing the previous chapter and adding it to your Alert and Favorites list. Just reading your reviews warms my heart and places a smile on my face :) I would also like to thank sweetangel014 for encouraging me to post this story!

Disclaimer: Amano Akira is the owner of Katekyo Hitman Reborn! I only own the plot... I would be even happier if I owned Hayato-kun though...

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**All about Acceptence**

**\*\-5996-/*/  
**

The Vongola bunch sat on the chairs as they waited for Yamamoto and his dad prepare their lunch, though Tsuna and Reborn can't help but stare at the bag of cakes Chrome gave to the brash storm guardian. Gokudera didn't even utter a word as they walked to the sushi bar, not even retorting back to Yamamoto's optimistic yet sometimes nonsensical statements or Ryohei's hyper attitude that almost always makes his blood boil. He just sits there, next to Tsuna and stared at five small cakes he received. He can't help but sarcastically roll his eyes on the girl's exaggerating act of gratitude. And that kiss on the cheek, what the hell was that for anyway? A simple thank you would have sufficed, he didn't even need one since he's only doing his job. He suddenly felt revolted at the cakes and handed them over to Tsuna, "Here boss. I don't really have a sweet tooth..." Tsuna blinked at Gokudera and shook his head while pushing it back to his direction, "Iie, Gokudera-kun; Chrome made this for you so you should at least eat one!" He sighed and looked at his boss with a pout; if Tsuna said so, then so be it. He opened the bag and it revealed five small cakes, three chocolate ones and two white ones, vanilla? He bit a little on the white one and can't help but smile a little. The girl's a good cook, and that's saying something since he'd been traumatized by his half-sibling's dangerous concoctions, almost everyone's cooking is better than hers.

He shoved the four untouched cakes towards Tsuna and Reborn when the door flew open and two kids landed on the counter, "Ciaossu, I-pin, stupid cow." Reborn greeted as he took a chocolate cake. Lambo and I-pin immediately eyed the cake and tried to paw it all, well, Lambo did anyway as I-pin looked at Tsuna like begging to have one. Tsuna smiled apologetically at I-pin and pointed at Gokudera who's prying off the bag from Lambo's greedy hands,

"Oi, hands off you stupid cow!"

"I'm not stupid, you're stupid, Aho-dera!"

"Those aren't yours, don't take something just because you want it!"

"BOO, you're selfish, octopus head!"

"You just ripped that off from Turf Top!"

They just watched as Gokudera and Lambo tug-o-war'ed the bag until one cake was thrown upwards, making them look up to it. I-pin seized the opportunity and grabbed the cake with her mouth. She landed with Tsuna and Yamamoto clapping at her performance while Gokudera and Lambo resumed to their bickering as Ryohei pushes them on, "Those cakes must be good to the extreme!" I-pin bit into the cake in her mouth and yelled, "WAAAAAIT!"

"Hiiie? What's wrong I-pin?"

"... Did Chrome-chan made this?" she asked as she sat cross-legged as she dug into the chocolate cake. "Yeah, how d'ya know?" Gokudera asked as he kicked Lambo who bounced off the walls. I-pin munched happily as frosting pasted on the corners of her mouth, "Chrome-chan always makes yummy cakes! Is she giving out free cakes?" Tsuna shook his head and Reborn said, "Chrome gave it as a token of appreciation for Gokudera." I-pin looked at Gokudera who stared back at her, "What?" She just looked at him and merely continued her eating as he fumed at the look she just gave him, is it THAT unbelievable that he can be nice to Chrome? I mean, he's at least more friendlier that Hibari, well... everyone IS friendlier than him, but still!

"Lambo-san wanna have cake!" Lambo yelled as he threw into a tantrum. He was about to reach his ten-year bazooka but Reborn kicked it out of his hands, making him drop it into the floor. Lambo glared at Reborn and pointed his finger on him, "Prepare for battle!" he declared and took out several pink grenades. Tsuna's eyes widened and he shrieked as he tried to take it from Lambo's hands, strangely, Yamamoto's father didn't noticed the scene since he's too much focused on cutting the fish. Lambo had already took of the pins and was about to throw it to Reborn when Gokudera caught it and yelled out to Yamamoto, "Oi, catch!" Yamamoto's eyes flashed and threw the grenades outside and blew up in midair. The passerby who saw this had left his mouth open while Tsuna immediately closed the door with a shaky laugh, 'This isn't good for my sanity' he thought.

* * *

Chrome ran through the crowd of busy shoppers as she entered the Namimori business district. Her heart thumped loudly ever since she pecked the storm guardian on the cheek, 'I've never felt this way when I greeted the boss...' she thought as she stopped in front of the supermarket. She took out her wallet and counted all her money. It's enough to buy them snacks for a whole month, but she's getting concerned for Ken and Chikusa's health as much as her own. Eating junk foods is okay once in a while, but everyday will give you a risk of numerous diseases; at least, that's what Bianchi says. She took a basket and gave a small bow to the cashier who greeted her a good afternoon. She looked around the frozen food section and picked up a dumpling package. She flipped it around to look if there are instructions so that she won't ruin it on her first try.

'_Kufufufu, why the sudden interest in cooking, my dear Chrome?_'

She nearly dropped the package and looked around. No one around but the usual homemakers and high school teenagers who are giggling about something on their cellphones. She tucked a strand at the back of her ear and concentrated on communicating with the voice in her head, '_I was just merely curious, Mukuro-sama_' she answered back. Mukuro just chuckled and said no more. She just sighed and walked around the different aisles and picked up a couple of instant ramen and fresh vegetables. She went to the seafood section and picked off different slices of tuna and eel. Ken and Chikusa may not like the taste but she's willing to give it a try anyway. Along with a few fresh fruits and vegetables, and a package of strawberry bubble gum, she placed her heavy laden basket on the table so the cashier can sum up the receipt. The cashier was also teenager, maybe a year or two older than her. He kept looking at her with a cheeky light on his eyes, making her blush and look at another direction. The cashier placed all the purchases in three plastic bags and gave her a charming smile. She blushed in deeper scarlet and whispered a thank you and almost ran out of the store. She tried to keep balance of the three heavy bags but she felt her shoulders will rip apart, so she placed it on the floor and tried to rotate her shoulders to get rid of the numb feeling. She just sighed and once again lifted her load and slowly walked her way towards Kokuyo land, hoping to make it there before Ken lets out a tantrum just because of an empty stomach.

Tsuna and Gokudera parted ways as they reached the Sawada residence. Nana was sweeping the front gate when she spotted her son with his usual companions, "Good evening Gokudera-kun, would you like to stay for dinner?"

Gokudera shook his head politely and declined and headed his way to his apartment. He immediately regretted declining Nana's offer since his stomach suddenly grumbled, demanding to be filled. He took out his wallet and frowned, his has to pay his apartment's rent today so he can't buy groceries for tonight. Maybe a small bag of takuyaki can suffice, he headed towards the market. On the way; he saw the mist guardian walking slowly on the opposite side of the road, carrying three large bags with her. He frowned a little bit more as he saw he shook her head at a young man who offered to help her ease the burden.

"N-no thank you. I-I can do this on my own..."

"You sure? Cause I insist-"

"She said she didn't need any help"

Chrome looked at the direction the voice came from and saw Gokudera with his hands in his pocket. The man immediately backed off and said, "Sorry, I didn't know she was your friend! I was trying to help" with that, he left. Gokudera was about to say something but Chrome immediately ran with the bags on her hands, then tripped when gravity pulled her face first to the cold hard cement. She closed her eyes and prepared for impact but none came. "Eh?"

"You should stop running away when people are being nice to you" he said as he tugged her backwards to set her upright. She stumbled a bit before looking down automatically at her boots. She shifted her weight from one foot to another as Gokudera was about to turn the other way, a voice stopped them, "Ciaossu, Chrome!"

"Re-reborn-san?"

Reborn turned around and Gokudera was at awe to see him in a pigeon costume. He was standing on top of a wall with a letter in hand. He flew, more likely, jumped down and handed Chrome a letter. She stared at the letter then to Reborn, "It's addressed for you," Reborn said, "The Kokuyo bunch have left Kokuyo Land and gave this to me. They said that all that was needed to know are in there." Gokudera's mouth hung open. He was just with Reborn and the others not thirty minutes ago, how did he received the note? Reborn turned to Gokudera, "Escort her to dame-Tsuna's house." He felt slapping himself in exasperation, Nana would be wondering what he would be there for again. He would love nothing more than to spend more time with the Tenth but he should at least get something to eat first! Chrome bit her lip as she scanned the note with her eye.

Chikusa and Ken said they will leave to train for a while so that they can get stronger in order to help free Mukuro from Vendicare. If that's true, why didn't they bring her with them? She was there this morning, and they didn't even say a thing to her. She pursed her lips and tried not to blink as tears began to well on her eye. Gokudera visibly stiffened when he saw the girl sniffing and rubbed her eye childishly with her knuckle, he can't deal with a crying girl. He turned to Reborn for back up but the baby is already gone; 'Damn it!' he thought. He cleared his throat for a bit, making her look at him, her face a bit pink as she wiped her eye with her sleeve, he avoided eye contact and carried the two plastic bags and stated, "We'll come over to my apartment, you just put this in my place then go to the Tenth's place to figure this out."

Before she can even say anything, he's already making his way towards the apartment with her bags of food. Left with no choice, she followed him...

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Sorry if it's short but I only had an hour to write this all down since start of classes is tomorrow, even though it's Friday, damn you ADMU! Anyways, R and R, comments and suggestions are welcomed! Flames... I will sic Hibari on you!


	3. New roommate, New School

A/N: Sorry for the late update guys, I was also writing a chapter in Wedding Preparations, my collab with sweetangel014, so if you love 1896, you might wanna check it out. Thank you for continually reading this fic even if it's not that great… (I'm depressed coz I was stuck with some homework )

For the reviewers; **Marabou, masaari, liondancer17, solitarycloud, marze09, NagiChrome **and** DeadFlash27**; Thank you so much for giving me feed backs! For me, I get energized when I see and read reviews that I sometimes update sooner!

Disclaimer: KHR isn't mine... or is it? Naw, I really don't :(

* * *

**All about Acceptance**

**\*\-5996-/*/**

Gokudera immediately turned the knob as soon as the lock clicked and placed the bags on top of the table, damn those bags are heavy! He turned to Chrome who's heaving and leaning on the door as she tried to catch her breath. She wiped her sweat from her forehead with her sleeve and apologized for the intrusion, yet again. Gokudera cleaned the table and saw Chrome's note that she wrote that morning. He pocketed the piece of paper and coaxed her on, "We better go, we can't keep the Tenth waiting" She nodded obediently and placed the bag next to the other two. They walked towards the Sawada residence in silence, neither one having to say to each other... except when, "You didn't really have to make those cakes you know" Chrome looked taken back and dropped her gaze on the floor, "I'm sorry, I didn't know what you liked..." He ran a hand on his hair in a frustrated manner, "You shouldn't always take people's words in face value except the Boss'! His opinion is the only one that matters!" Chrome shook her head in retaliation, "Mukuro-sama's words also matter to me. He gives an order and I will carry it out even if it kills me"

Gokudera stopped walking and looked at her with an incredulous expression on his face, "That bastard? You're not right in the head, the guy's a psycho. Look, I know you're in debt to him and that's fine... for you. But you gotta know that there's 99.99% of the possibility that he just might be using you." Chrome didn't back down, not right now that her master's actions towards her are being questioned, "Then I'm taking that chance. I'm fine that he's using me!" He glared at her and turned his back, "Then you're an idiot."

She didn't say a word, she was used to those words thrown at her on a daily basis anyway.

They arrived at their destination with Gokudera and Chrome keeping a ten feet radius away from each other, making Tsuna raise a brow at what could have possibly happened for them to suddenly have a tension between them, and not the good kind of tension. Nana welcomed the company and made them sit on the table to eat dinner together. They ate in silence except for Nana who's frequently asking questions to Chrome, "So Chrome-chan, how are you doing? Are you doing all right?"

"Yes ma'am..." she answered in a small voice. Reborn frowned while Tsuna looks worried at her dismal tone and monitored her actions throughout the meal. After helping Nana with the dishes, they went up to Tsuna's room, homework help, that's what Tsuna said to his mother and opened his bedroom door to reveal Lambo tinkering with Tsuna's things while sucking on a grape lollipop. Gokudera lifted his foot just in time when Lambo saw his face and yelled, "Prepare for my revenge!" and tackled him, only to get intimate with his foot. He fell in a lump on the floor and Reborn hopped down from Tsuna's shoulder and on to Lambo's stomach. Tsuna sat on the edge of the bed while Gokudera settled himself on the floor. Chrome stayed by the door while looking around the teen's room. The  
while house itself has a warm and pleasant atmosphere and very well- lit, the exact opposite of Kokuyo Land where it's always dark, cold and your usual company are mice and the stray cats and dogs she picks up when she sees one and brings them to the shelter. Tsuna patted the space next to him and smiled, "Why not take a seat Chrome?"

She looked at him with surprise while Gokudera glared, how come she gets to sit next to the Tenth and not him? He just glances outside the window as Chrome slowly and hesitantly entered his bed room. She hopped across the still unconscious Lambo and sat next to Tsuna with a pink hue on her cheeks. "So," Reborn started, "We have to figure out where we're going to place Chrome."

"Place her?" Tsuna asked, "Doesn't she live in Kokuyo land?"

"Since the Kokuyo Bunch left, she needs to reside to one of ours in case something comes up. We can't waste our time just to look for her." Gokudera nodded at his words and said, "Then, Reborn-san, who is she gonna live with?"

Reborn crossed his arms and enumerated, "She can't stay here since Tsuna's momma won't let him, Yamamoto's dad also won't. Hibari's out of the question and if we let her move to the Sasagawa residence, the girls would get suspicious and will begin to snoop around. Plus, we can't really keep her here since Tsuna might have pent-up hormones that might suggest procreation not to mention physical attraction"

Gokudera's cheeks are puffed out childishly as Chrome blinked at Reborn and a blushing Tsuna, "Wha-what are you talking about Reborn? I'm just worried about Chrome's welfare; don't make it sound like I have an ulterior motive!" Reborn just ignored him and continued, "So, since you already communicated with each other; Chrome will stay with you for the meantime." The statement opened a wave of mixed reactions;

"Eh?"

"Huh?"

"No way in hell!"

"Lollipop!"

All eyes turned to a wide awake Lambo who was casually picking on his nose, "What? We're playing random reactions right?" Gokudera slapped the back of his head and Reborn kicked him on the stomach, making him cry and ran towards Chrome; who let him cuddle on her chest as he began to weep. He was going to use his ten year bazooka but Reborn took it from the restaurant and won't give it back 'til the next day. Gokudera rolled his eyes at the two; Chrome is acting like a mother while Lambo's a spoiled brat who was scolded for being naughty. She rocked him back and forth and whispered hushed words he can't understand and smiled as Lambo's cries toned down. She fished in her pockets a couple of candies in different colorful packages and gave Lambo all. "Don't give him candy!" Gokudera scolded directly at her, "It's like you're rewarding him when he doesn't deserve it!"

"But he's just a kid. And he didn't do anything wrong"

"He's used with you giving him sweets every single time you see him. If that keeps up, he'll follow you around like a puppy!"

"Maa maa Gokudera-kun, I'm sure she means well. Let's try not to fight okay?" Tsuna interjected with his hands up to calm the flaring storm guardian. Gokudera silenced almost immediately and settled to throwing a dirty look at the smirking Lambo. Reborn looked at the wall clock and said, "It's getting late so you both should go now. Don't forget there's another meeting this Saturday. If you did..." he trailed off and Leon turned into a pistol and aimed at them, effectively proving his point. Tsuna gulped loudly and winced, "U-understood, now point that somewhere else!"

"Too late it's loaded", Reborn said and fired straight to Tsuna's forehead. Gokudera and Chrome shouted simultaneously, "Tenth!" "Boss!" Reborn blew the smoke from the pistol and said, "Relax, its just a depression bullet. I'm sure he'll sleep like a baby after the effects wore off." On cue, Tsuna knelt down and suddenly murmured, "I'm hopeless and worthless. I don't deserve to live..." Gokudera scrambled to his feet and shook Tsuna on the shoulders and replied back, "Boss, that's not true! You're not worthless!" Chrome watched him try to shake Tsuna out of his depressed state. He sure is dedicated when it came to Tsuna, even fiercely loyal. She was so sure he was going to kick her when she kissed boss on the cheek, Yamamoto was only holding him back while he yelled at her and a string of profanity; this made her think his sexuality.

"You better get going, he will be his normal self tomorrow" Reborn assured and shooed them off the house. Gokudera was reluctant to leave the boss but nonetheless, he followed the Arcobaleno's orders and left with Chrome tailing him. The walk back to his apartment was not as awkward as it was before so Chrome tried to strike a conversation,

"Ano, storm man-"

"Storm man? What the hell?"

"I-I didn't know what to call you-"

"Call me Gokudera"

"Okay... um Gokudera-san?"

"Hm?" he hummed back as he placed a cigarette in his mouth and took his lighter and a flame flickered to life and lit the smoke. Chrome was twiddling her thumbs and said, "You like Boss right?"

"Of course I do!" he answered, not really getting what she had meant.

She blushed and blurted out, "So you like the same gender?"

Gokudera almost swallowed the smoke he inhaled and coughed before turning around and glared at her with murder in his eyes, "What. The. Hell?"

She backed away and found herself sandwiched between a wall and an angry guardian. "I-I mean you... Boss and... I thought you love him in a romantic gist. Because you're loyal and faithful and you're jealous when Boss to anyone other than you in a familiar manner and..." she continued to babble as Gokudera rubbed his face in a frustrated manner and stomped on his cigarette that fell on the ground.

"I'm not _gay_! What the hell made you think that? Just because you're loyal and faithful to a person, it doesn't mean you love them in that way!"

She looked at him with a questioning gaze, "Is there another kind of love?"

He sighed and stepped back, allowing the girl to relax and take a breather, "There different kinds of love in the world, not just the kind involves two people romantically. Example, there's 'sibling love' where you still love your sibling even if you're not sure if she wanted to kill you when you were kids. It may also mean that you love other people that you regard them as your siblings." Her eye lit up as she soaked up this new information in her brain. He raised a brow at her reaction and began to walk again, "C'mon, we still have to clean up the apartment."

* * *

He opened the lights as he stretched and kicked off his shoes as they went further inside the apartment. She took of her boots and went to the bags and looked at him, "Ano... I was shopping for groceries but since Chikusa and Ken isn't here... Is it okay if you eat it with me?" He blinked and opened the bags. Sure enough, there a bundle of fish, fruits and vegetables in all of them. He thought for a moment and said, "Okay, here's the plan; I'll let you crash in here but we both pay for the rent. Deal?" She nodded and smiled a bit but she remembered something, "I don't have my clothes and toiletries" Gokudera shrugged and went in his bed room and came back with a large shirt and a toothbrush, "You can use this for tonight and don't worry, this is an extra toothbrush" She sighed gratefully and took them from his arms. She began to prepare the couch when he asked, "What are you doing?"

"I'm... preparing to go sleep?"

"You're not sleeping on the couch, I watch television every night. It would be hard sitting when you're sleeping on the sofa."

She played with the hem of her skirt a little and said, "Can I sleep on the floor?" The floor is at least carpeted; she won't get cold in the middle of the night and wake up shivering. He gazed at her with a perplexed expression, "What are you talking about? I have a mattress; you can sleep in the spare room. I'm not that mean, sheesh..." she just stared at him and bowed lowly and suddenly pecked him at the cheek for the second time, "Thank you" He rubbed off the area she kissed him and said, "Don't thank me. It's Reborn-san's request, I won't let you sleep here just because you're lonely" She didn't say anything else and went into the table to place the food in the refrigerator which is almost empty.

He was watching a documentary as she bid him a soft 'good night' and went in the room to get some shut eye, not getting any response from him as if she wasn't there. He didn't know why he was reacted that way; maybe he was just jealous of the fact that Tenth may have a microscopic fondness for the girl, or Mukuro's possessing the girl and she's letting him or maybe he just wasn't used to the fact they she will be staying with him for a long period. He didn't pay attention to the program as he sat there; thinking and wondering.

He woke up with a blanket on him and a smell of bacon entered his nose and a sound of something being fried. He yawned and stretched, making his joints pop and went into the bathroom to do his business. He exited the bathroom and automatically went into the kitchen and saw Chrome wearing his shirt that reached her lower thigh and a white apron. Her back was facing him and she turned off the gas range and knelt down, making blush different shades of red and look at the other direction. He coughed offhandedly and she immediately stood up and blushed as she tugged on his short lower, "Um... Good morning. I made food, if it's okay..." He didn't say anything and plucked a piece of bacon and examined it; it was a little darker than he usually makes but at least it's not coal-black and moving. He took a deep breath and bit it off, it was good. He didn't say anything and just took a plate and sat down to eat while Chrome picked off the last of the bacon strips and placed it on a plate with wax paper to catch the grease. She went in the room and changed in her uniform and just stood there. Gokudera suddenly felt ticked and turned around, "Look will you just sit down and eat?"

She immediately sat on the chair and took a plate of bacon strips and a slice of bread. She nibbled the meat and bread as Gokudera ate his portion and suddenly a thought passed in his mind, "Do you have classes today?" She looked up and answered, "I don't go to school" He stared at her, "Then... why are you wearing a uniform?" She shrugged and replied, "Well, Mukuro-sama is from Kokuyo and well..." He shook his head and muttered, "Shouldn't have asked" They stayed silent as they finished their meal.

He changed into his uniform and put in his numerous rings and brought out his bag and put in his books. Chrome was out of the door and said, "I'm going to get my clothes...""And when will you be back?" he asked as he put on his tie, "Um, by five in the afternoon." A knock was heard and she opened it to see Reborn and Bianchi holding Namimori's girl uniform. Bianchi smiled at Chrome while Gokudera made a mad dash to the bathroom to throw up. Bianchi rolled her eyes at his direction and said, "Here's your new uniform!"

"Eh?"

"We took your file and put you in enrollment for Namimori Middle," Reborn explained as he gave her a folder and said, "Well, see you later!" The two left, leaving a dumbstruck Gokudera and a confused Chrome. She looked at Gokudera and muttered, "Um, can I go to school with you?" He 'tsk-ed' and nodded, not believing in himself to voice out his concerns. She went the bathroom and locked it then began to unbutton her green uniform when- _'Kufufufu, a Namimori uniform huh?'_ she stiffened for a moment then replied, 'Hai, Mukuro-sama. I'm going back to school after a very long time. I hope this doesn't upset you.' Mukuro's voice was silent for a while then again rang out, _'I'm not upset, my dear Chrome. In fact, I'm sure you'll look quite adorable in it'_. After that, nothing followed; she blushed at his words and began to peel her garment off.

* * *

"Will you stop doing that?" Gokudera asked as they walked towards Namimori middle high. She keeps tugging her skirt since the skirt Bianchi gave her was too short and Gokudera can't help but blush at the sight of her legs and he's not even a pervert. She then fidgeted in her blouse and played with the bow. She had seen Kyoko in this uniform and Haru in her Midori uniform. They have different sets for winter and summer seasons. She doesn't own a uniform other than Kokuyo since her old uniform was back at her old house, maybe her mother or the servants already threw it away... the thought made her frown. Her grip on her school bag became tighter as she saw the form of Yamamoto who saw them and a wide grin spread to his face, "Good morning!" he greeted as he waved at them.

"It _was_" Gokudera spatted out, making Chrome wince at his cold tone. The rain guardian approached them with a sunny attitude and a small look of surprise on his face when he saw Chrome, "Oh, are you going to our school too?"

"Y-yes" she answered in a small voice.

"Well, then let me be your welcome committee!" he chuckle and gave her a small pat on the back, making her blush at the contact and the flash of his smile. Gokudera uttered some words and turned to Yamamoto, "Isn't it a bit too early for you to annoy me?" he asked as he pulled up the sleeve of his blazer and folded them to his wrist. Yamamoto smiled, not feeling Gokudera's hot-headed aura and answered, "Well, early bird catches the worm!"

"That doesn't even make sense!"

"Good morning to the extreme!"

"Oh great... here comes tuft top" Gokudera sulked, while Yamamoto smiled even widely than possible and waved back, "Ohayo, senpai!" The active Ryohei sped up to them and saw Chrome, "Oh, you coming to school with us?"

"Ha-hai!" she answered back in a loud voice, making Ryohei laugh and pumped a fist on the air, "That's the spirit! Have a good energy to start a new day to the extreme!" and without saying a word to anyone else, he dashes off, leaving a cloud of dust. They coughed at the dust and Tsuna's voice entered the conversation, "Was that Sasagawa-san?" They looked at the Tenth who is yawning and a piece of toast in his mouth.

"Good morning Tenth!" Gokudera greeted loudly and ran up to him, "Tenth, are you alright? Last night was-"

"Ah hahaha, last night was nothing" he smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head, "The effects of the bullet didn't last long and Reborn already told me you guys left. Oh!" he said as he spotted Chrome, "Reborn already told me you're now attending Namimori now."

She nodded and he smiled reassuringly at her, "Don't worry, it's not really that scary. You have us to help you around!"

"And what are _you_ doing in that uniform?" a new voice asked; a scary, dangerous and blood thirsty voice. They turned around to see the Head of the Disciplinary Committee, the head honcho, the Prefect from hell; Hibari Kyoya.

* * *

A/N: Was that short? Long or just right? Anyways, R&R! Love you guys!


	4. A first day blunder

A/N: Sorry for the late update guys! I was swamped with the homework and writing the Katekyo Hitman Reborn! Super Interview! segment that I almost forgot to post this one :P As always, I wanna thank the following who have been supporting this since the beginning~!

**jenjenshi**: I'm so sorry if the previous chapter came off like it was a drabble, I was trying to built a common ground for the two to get closer, nothing makes two people closer than living together! xD Don't worry, I have no intention of breaking Chrome and Mukuro's relationship. It will just be a strain for upcoming 5996 moments

**NagiChrome**: No, not yet, but soon :D

**Marabou**: Thank you for the kind words! They empower me to do better with this baby~

**masaari**: Thanks! I was nervous that I can't pull off Chrome's proper responses so I thought she came out a bit OOC'ish.

**liondancer17**: Iie, iie! I'm glad that you've made a request! I'll see what I can do to a fluff scene, if you have something in mind, don't hesitate!

**ObseleteLinedPaper**: Aaaw, thanks~

**DeadFlash27**: I will, I promise!

Please read and review!

Disclaimer: KHR! isn't mine, sorry.

* * *

**All about Acceptance**

**\*\-5996-/*/**

"Hi- Hibari-san?"

Tsuna's voice rose a few octaves as the violent prefect stepped towards them with conviction in his eyes. He stared, more likely glared down at Chrome as she fidgeted with her uniform. "I'll ask you again; what are you doing in that uniform?" She couldn't find her voice and whether it was her instincts or not, she suddenly hid at the back of the taller Yamamoto. She bit her lip and berated herself for acting so cowardly in front of them but she knows anyone as small as her can really be intimidated with someone as tall and as scary as him. Hibari raised his tonfas when Reborn suddenly leaped in front of him and a folder under his arm. "Ciaossu, Hibari. From now on, Chrome Dokuro will be studying in Namimori middle school. As the head of the disciplinary committee, you'll be the one who'll be showing her around campus, correct?"

"I refuse"

"How about I fight with you? Will you show her around?"

"My mind will not be changed, infant."

Reborn looked at Tsuna and said, "Well, I tried." Tsuna's mouth slacked and yelled, "You didn't even put up a fight! You can persuade him; you can manipulate anyone you want!" he immediately fell silent when Hibari gave him a piercing glare. Reborn ignored Tsuna's ramblings and threw Hibari the folder, "All the necessary documents and information are in there. I better get going."

And as fast as he had come, he was gone.

Hibari continued to glare her down while Yamamoto stood in front of her and raised his hands and smiled good-naturedly, " Hey now, we're all schoolmates here, right?" Hibari's expression on his face stayed the same and within the longest five seconds in Tsuna's life; he left with his tonfas still in his hands. Tsuna released the breath he didn't realized he was holding while Gokudera sighed, "We better hurry up or else we'll be late and we'll get bitten to death this time." Chrome poked her head from Yamamoto's form and nodded obediently. They walked towards the school where students filled the entrance and the girls as usual, stated and admired Gokudera and Yamamoto. Some whispered and stared at Chrome. A new student who wears an eye patch with pineapple styled hair; not to mention walking with the school's heartthrobs can surely make some wonder who she is.

"Which class are you anyway?" Yamamoto asked her as they climbed the stairs. She opened her envelope and saw a handwritten note addressed to her. It was written that she's placed in the same class as boss and the others and to always stick to them in case of any incidents.

They entered the classroom and a couple of students stared at their new classmate. Chrome suddenly felt self-conscious and looked down at the ground. Gokudera saw her anxiety and yelled,"What hell is your problem?" to everyone in the room. They immediately looked away while some cowered in their chairs while the girls looked reproachfully at Chrome and grouped together to whisper.

"Tch, girls are gossip mongrels." he said as he sat in his usual seat in front and placed his feet on his table. Tsuna sat in his while Yamamoto offered to be her guide throughout the day as she placed her bag on the chair next to his. She whispered a thank you to him in a hushed tone she usually use with other people. The noises and talking stopped when the teacher entered their classroom, "Class, we have a new student, please stand in front and introduce yourself." She looked nervous when everyone looked at her except Gokudera who stared at the blackboard like it was the most amusing thing in the world.

"Go on, it would be fine!" Yamamoto whispered at her as she stood up and slowly walked in front of the class. She heard someone said "What's with the eye patch? Is she a cosplayer or something?" while a female girl whispered,"Look at her hair! Is she a pineapple lover or just plain freaky?" and a random, "She's kinda cute! Maybe I could ask her out?" then followed by, "I think she's taken" She stood in front with her hands clamped in front of her and took a deep breath and released it with a shaky voice, "My name is Chrome, Chrome Dokuro" and nothing else. The teacher raised his eyebrows and said, "Can you tell us a little bit more about yourself?" She shook her head and a blush appeared almost immediately as she shifted at her feet. "Well, I hope you guys will help her around campus, right?" a dull chorus of 'yes sir' came from the girls while and an enthusiastic agreement from the guys. Gokudera grumbled and said, "Let's just get this over with!" The teacher gaped at the rebellious student's tone and cleared his throat, "Well, since that's taken care off, Dokuro-san you may go back to your seat. Now, we left off at -" Chrome sat through an hour and a half of the rather dull Japanese History lecture and ended up doodling on her notebook. '_Kufufufufu, a little bored, Chrome?_' Mukuro asked, 'Ano, it's a bit dull...' she answered back as she stared at the puffy cloud she drew with tiny dots underneath it. The bell rung to signal lunchtime. Tsuna yawned loudly as he scratched the back of his head, "That was the worst lecture ever, I didn't understand the time line" Gokudera just smiled sympathetically at him and said, "Don't worry Tenth, I can lend you some notes." Tsuna nodded and walked towards Chrome who closed her notebook and placed it in her bag, "Chrome, we're going to the rooftop to eat lunch, you can come with us" he offered. She shook her head, "I'm just going to the wash room..." she trailed off. Tsuna nodded back with understanding and turned towards the other two and Yamamoto waved at her, she waved back somewhat hesitantly.

She stood up and walked out of the classroom just to walk on Hana and Kyoko. "Ah, Chrome-chan!" Kyoko exclaimed as Hana just greeted a "Hey" Kyoko's eyes scanned at Chrome's appearance and clapped her hands together, "Wow, you're studying here too? Which class are you in?" she asked as Hana frowned when Ryohei suddenly ran through the corridors and evidently dodged Hibari's form as he weaved through the students, no doubt going to see the others on the rooftop. "Um, I'm in the same class with Boss and the others." Kyoko 'oh-ed' and asked, "Why did you suddenly move here?" Chrome bit her lip and Reborn's voice resounded in her head, "_If anyone asks, just tell them that you moved into a relative's house_." She repeated the words but it kind of backfired when Kyoko smiled widely and said, "Then let's meet up at the park and Haru and I can see your relative's home, okay?" Before she can say a word, Kyoko looked at her watch and gasped, "I'm suppose to meet the girls in the gym! Ja ne, Chrome!" she cried as she ran through the crowd with Hana trying to keep up with her, "He-hey, Kyoko wait up!" She walked along the corridor and saw the picture of a little girl on the door and entered it and went in the cubicle and sat down on the toilet with the lid down. She buried her face in her hands and closed her eyes as she concentrated with all her might, "Mukuro-sama..."

She's standing on the edge of the lake with her hair down and back to its former length. Her white summer dress fluttered with the gentle breeze as she heard light foot-falls behind her. She turned around to see Rokudo Mukuro in his white blouse and pants. He smiled a gentle smile, "What brings you here, Nagi?" She blinked at him with her good eye and looked at his mismatched ones, "I just don't feel like I belong with them" she replied. He tilted his head at her and asked, "With who? The guardians?" She shook her head no, "With other people. They think I'm strange... different." At first, Mukuro said nothing and just walked closer to her and placed a gentle hand on her head, "People tend to isolate those who seemed different from them. The things that makes you different are the things that makes you special." She lifted her head to look him in the eyes, he seems sincere with his words and his eyes isn't clouded with malicious lies and deceit, "What happens if they still leave me?" she dared to asked, Ken and Chikusa already did, so the Vongola can also follow their suit.

Mukuro just stood their and lifted her chin, "Remember Chrome; I'll always be by your side. Whatever happens..."

"HEY, Is someone in there?"

A voice shook her out of her dream-like state as a series of impatient knocks pondered on the cubicle's door. "Ju-just a minute please!" she answered back as she hurriedly undid the lock only to come face-to-face with an older and mean-looking girl. She gulped and tried to walk past her when a hand clamped on her shoulder painfully, making her yelp as her back was forced to the wall. The girl sneered at her and said, "You're the girl they've been talking about? Tch, and I thought you would be at least prettier than me." Chrome's mouth opened to speak but the girl punched her harshly, making her cry out as the sting from the hit spread across her left cheek. _'Chrome, let me out'_ Mukuro said, rather, demanded as she struggled to keep her balance while leaning on the wall and refused to let him take control. The girl just tossed her shiny brown hair from her shoulders and said, "Consider this a warning; stay away from Gokudera-kun and Yamamoto-kun, got that bitch?"

_"Chrome..."_

_'Iie, Mukuro-sama, I can't always depend on you'_ "Ha-hai.."

With that, the school bell rang and the girl just smirked at her scornfully and exited the room with a sway of her skirt. Chrome looked at her face in the mirror and absentmindedly touched the reddening area on her cheek. She sighed and hoped it will go away sooner so no one will ask about it. She saw Mukuro's face in her mind, a face of disapproval and... anger? She knew he meant well, but it's better to handle her own fights and try not to drag others in it. She opened the door and looked around to see the once crowded corridors looked almost deserted with a student or two running across the halls in hopes of getting into class before meeting their death in form of Hibari Kyoya. She took out her handkerchief and placed it over the still throbbing area as she opened the classroom and saw no one there except for Gokudera who was busy stacking a bundle of pamphlets on the desk. She looked around and asked, "Um... where is everyone?" His back was in front of her and answered, "They're having a fire drill exercise at the gym, but the damn teacher told me to get these and distribute it. I could have been guarding the Tenth right now if- What the hell happened to you?" He asked as he turned around to see the left side of her face covered with a white handkerchief and a small trickle of blood trailing from her mouth.

She didn't notice it was bleeding until she gulped and swallowed the metallic taste of blood. She backed away when he approached her and tried to take the handkerchief, "Please don't-" she didn't get to complete her sentence as he ripped it away from her face and stared at the bruise forming on her cheek. "What happened to you?" She struggled to answer and came up with a bold-faced lie...

"I tripped."

"You... _tripped_?"

"Hai..."

"You 'tripped' and landed on the left side of your face which looked like someone gave you a upper cut?"

"... hai?"

He growled as he scratched the back of his head in an irritated manner, "Next time, try to make a more believable story. Come here." He gestured at her to sit on the teacher's desk which she reluctantly did. He opened his bag and retrieved a small container of salve and opened the bottle. He dabbed a bit of it on her cheek and was being uncharacteristically gentle as he spreads it across the reddened flesh. She smelled a mixture of chamomile and pine among other things as he placed the cap back on the bottle. "What was that?" she asked as she felt the throb beginning to ebb almost instantly. "It's Arnica salve. It's commonly used for swelling and bruises." She blinked and asked, "Why do you have that?" she knew it wasn't her place to ask but she's merely curious. He shrugged off as he stacked the forgotten pamphlets into a neat pile, "I'm used to getting into fights so first aid became a necessity for me. And wipe off that blood in your mouth, you looked like a damn vampire." She wiped the drying trail of blood as hard as she could, only to stain her sleeve. Chrome frowned as she looked at the stained fabric, maybe she can wash it off so it will be gone tomorrow.

He carried the pamphlets with difficulty and cursed out when a couple fell from the stack. She made to pick them up but he just flat-out rejected her help, "I can do this without you!" He bent over to pick the pieces of paper, only to make more scatter across the floor. He let out a string of profanities and his face scrunched with anger. She picked up a couple near her feet and offered it to him, he grabbed them and muttered, "Thanks... I guess" Not knowing why, a small smile crept on her face as she began to retrieve the other ones left on the floor. She took half of the stack while Gokudera begrudgingly took the other half, "What a troublesome woman..."

They arrived at the gym with their classmates group into fours. Yamamoto waved at them as they approached the group after Gokudera passed the pamphlets to their teacher. "Ne, what happened to your face?" he asked to Chrome. The swelling's gone but the red color is still there. She tried to think of an excuse before Gokudera answered for her; "She just had a rash and she scratched it." Yamamoto looked suspicious for a moment but then smiled and said, "You should put some ointment!" and began to talk to her about the joys of base ball and she might enjoy it. Gokudera was suddenly at Tsuna's side, "Boss, did something happened?" he knew he was being paranoid, but one can't be too careful. Tsuna shook his head and sighed, "The only thing weird that happened was that Sasagawa-oniichan told me that Reborn wants to talk to us later."

* * *

"I can't believe they made us have a fire drill like we're little kids." Gokudera growled as they walked home with Tsuna grumbling as he got trampled when the teacher yelled at them to find the nearest fire escape. Yamamoto just grinned while Chrome walked slowly behind them. "Oh, there you are." They looked around to see Reborn standing on an electric post with Fon and Viper on either side. "Reborn, what's going on?" Tsuna asked in a cautious tone. Reborn smiled innocently and looked at them, "Why, training of course!"

"Hiiie? But we just got back from school and it's Monday. Can you be a little more considerate with our-"

"You will be paired randomly with each battle. Consider it like a sparring session. Especially you Chrome." He looked straight at the mist guardian with a neutral expression, "Your physical prowess is slim to none and your illusions needs more improvement. We will start tomorrow after school at the park." They all looked at each other while Chrome gripped her bag tightly as Reborn's words rang out. It's her chance to prove herself to them and to herself that she will no longer be a damsel-in-distress. "AH! I forgot about my homework load!" Tsuna suddenly yelled and began to run, "I'm sorry, I'll see tomorrow!" he yelled back at them and Reborn kicked a pebble that hit him on the square of his back, "Still the old dame-Tsuna" Viper looked at Chrome and said, "Better shape up for tomorrow." And he left, so did Fon.

Yamamoto looked at the other two and smiled, "I better go and help dad at the restaurant, see you tomorrow!" And only the two of the left. Gokudera walked towards the apartment with Chrome tailing him closely. He suddenly stopped, making her bump on his back and rubbed her nose. He turned around and frowned, "Not that I care or anything... but what do you think of the lesson today?" She looked at him like he'd grown two heads and said, "Me?"

"No, the other eye patch girl behind you, of course you!"

"Um... I think it's kind of boring..." she replied

He sighed and continued walking, "I thought I was the only one thinking that, what's your favorite subject anyway?"

"I like science and art" she answered almost immediately, "Well, art's kinda fun. Like playing the piano or something..."

'Kufufufufu, you're very quick to open up to him; I think I' getting jealous my dear Chrome' Mukuro said playfully.

She knew he wasn't serious of that jealous thing, but it did scare her a bit with that first statement.

Is she really opening up to him?

* * *

A/N: That's that, I have a bit more in mind but my plot bunny kept on running away from my mind cage. Please review, the more the feed back, the more it can improve the story~!


	5. Mist Vs Mist

A/N: Mou, everyone, I'm gonna do a quick update since I can't update this weekend so I wrote this in advance. I would like to thank the reviewers who had previously gave some feed back, thank you so much especially to** NagiChrome**,** jenjenshim** and **masaari**! Thank your for continually supporting my story, so here's chapter five!

* * *

**All about Acceptance**

**\*\-5996-/*/

* * *

**

They entered his apartment with her wondering about the new found epiphany**, **surely Mukuro-sama isn't serious with her opening to the storm guardian so easily. She can't even open up to the Boss and to the girls without having some sort of difficulty, so what is so different about him? His brashness, the way he honestly says things, his crass behavior? She's really stumped with this one. He dropped his bag on the sofa and took off his blazer and looked suspiciously at a paper bag with a note attached to it,

_'Chrome, since you're going to live with that idiot brother of mine, I took the liberty of shopping for your clothes since all I found in Kokuyo land was a bunch of Kokuyo uniforms and a hole-y nightshirt, I hope all of this is in your size. Cheers, Bianchi'_

Gokudera frowned at the note while Chrome seemed to look mesmerized with the pile of designer clothes in the bag. She loosened her bow and said, "I'm... going to start dinner. Is there anything you would like to eat?" Gokudera took out his books and replied, "Anything as long as it's not poisonous." She walked into the kitchen and put on the apron as she opened the refrigerator to grab the frozen dumplings and spinach she picked yesterday. She sliced the spinach in thin strips and fried it in hot oil with a bit of salt and pepper. She drained the oil and placed the vegetable dish in a small plate and a bottle of shoyu next to it on the table. The steamer started to steam, (no pun intended) and she took out the dumplings that are now tender and completely thawed out. She placed them in a presentable way on a plate and placed them on the table with the spinach dish. She frowned a little when she discovered he had no rice left and opted to make soup. She searched for a can of soup or a mix and only found the last package of mushroom soup.

Gokudera's mouth watered as he smelled the alluring smell of food wafting from the kitchen. His stomach grumbled, making him groan in irritation as he placed his pen between the book to get back to the part later, right now, he's just starving. He sat down on the chair and saw that the plates and chopsticks are in place; he felt a little guilty that he didn't help. She reappeared with a steaming bowl of thick soup with a ladle. They both sat down and Chrome watched nervously as Gokudera picked the spinach and dipped it on the shoyu. She blinked as he chewed and swallowed, "A bit too salty..." and that's all he said. They ate in silence then cleared the table as Chrome washed the dishes while Gokudera went back with his studying. After brushing her teeth and taking a shower and dressed in pink silk pajamas she bid him a goodnight in a small voice while he just raised his hand to affirm that he heard her. She closed the door and opened her books and read the first sections of all her books, she missed going to school, and doing this every night is like riding a bicycle.

The next day flew smoothly at the most part for Chrome, the mean girl didn't show up at the washroom and they managed to get through the day with a canceled pop quiz. Tsuna is evidently tense with the training session Reborn orchestrated, surely they will have to make a Hail Mary pass with it and Chrome lagging behind schoolwork is another matter. She has trouble understanding as bad as him when it comes to math. He saw her face scrunched with concentration and beads of sweat on her forehead as the teacher taught a new lesson; calculus. She looked around at her classmates' faces, Yamamoto's expression is neutral, the Boss, like her, seems to have trouble grasping the solutions written on the board while Gokudera looks bored and played with the pen in his mouth. "Okay, got that?" the math teacher asked to the class. There were various answers and she could swear she heard someone say, "No way in shit can we use that in real life." She looked down at her notes and frowned; all the formulas and given examples are all jumbled together, she doesn't even know what the question was and which answer is given to its own set of problems. The bell rung and almost every one shouted with relief as the teacher announced that no assignments for that day. She stood up and can't help but feel somewhat slightly nervous; training had always been a problem with her and surely they would get to see her fumble and fail with every spar.

_'Kufufufu, don't fret my precious Chrome, I will guide you along the way.'_

She smiled at Mukuro's words and felt a sudden boost of self-confidence and walked with her team mates towards the park for the training session. However, Mukuro's words were shot down when Reborn told Chrome, "You will have to fight without Mukuro's help." Her eye widened and her legs wobbled as Tsuna looked at Reborn and exclaimed, "Wait, she has to have help Reborn! We can't just let her get hurt and-"

Reborn looked straight into Tsuna's eyes and said, "As the Vongola Decimo successor, it's your job to not only take responsibility for your guardians but to let them grow and fend for themselves even if it seems hard." He then turned to Chrome, "You must learn to defend for yourself. A reason to fight is to fight for your survival. That is the most instinctive reason; self-preservation. The first pair to spar is Viper and Chrome."

She gulped as Viper stepped forward, "It's a good thing you've paid me for this." he said to the sun Arcobaleno and faced Chrome, "Let's get started then." Reborn and the others walked towards the edge of the lake as the two illusionists faced each other. Chrome decided to make the first move by releasing pillars of volcano lava in every direction, making Tsuna yelped, Gokudera and Yamamoto watched every second while Ryohei can't keep still and just opted to make a visionary training with himself. Viper didn't even flinch as a pillar seemed to touch his cloak. "Weak" he said and jumped forward and sent different illusions of knives towards her. Chrome ran around the projectiles and summoned an illusion of Chikusa who used his yo-yo to intercept the weapons and used the string to tangle Viper with it. Viper saw through her plan and jumped backwards and called forth a couple of tentacles, giving her a feeling of deja vu with their last with each other during the Mist ring battle.

She gasped for oxygen as a fast moving tentacle hit her on the stomach with ferocious force. She clamped her hand on her mouth, but it didn't stop the blood from flooding from her orifice. "Chrome!" Tsuna and Yamamoto yelled while Gokudera hastily looked at Reborn, "Isn't that a little overboard? We should stop this..."

Reborn looked at him with interest in his eyes, "Ooh? Are you concerned for Chrome that much? That's new" Gokudera's face reddened lightly and blurted out, "I-I'm just worried that the Boss' worried for her, that's all!" Chrome hissed in pain as she felt the cut stinging on her right side. Blood started to soak her shirt and thanked herself for changing clothes before coming to the park; 'Chrome, behind you!'

She ducked just in time before a could lunge at her head. "Thank you, Mukuro-sama" Mukuro's voice was rather gruff as he replied, _'I have to apologize, but it's the Vongola's dog who warned you.'_ She peeked at Gokudera who was busy watching Viper's actions to notice the look she sent his way and bit her lip. She decided to change strategies and go head-to-head with Varia's mist guardian,_ 'Chrome, what are you doing?'_ Mukuro asked with an uncharacteristic slight hitch in his voice as she dodged the coming straight at her. Not only Mukuro, but also Gokudera, Ryohei and Yamamoto had their mouths open while Tsuna looked as if he's going to have heart attack any second now. Reborn studied Chrome's tactics and it suddenly hit him what she was planning to do, "Risky, yet effective" he said. Chrome ran straight to Viper who was jumping backwards while dodging the trident Chrome is swinging around. Almost all the illusionists she'd met can't really fight hand-to-hand combat except for Mukuro-sama and Genkishi. She jumps up and Viper aimed a couple of tentacles at her and hit her stomach, making her yell out in pain. Tsuna shouted at Reborn to stop the match but Reborn still continued to watch them. Viper looked at Chrome's lank form but was surprised when her body dissolved into a purple mist and a trident's end ripped off a bit of his cloak off.

Viper jump on top of a lamp post with his heartbeat quickening slightly as he perched on the post. Chrome suddenly started to run in circles and multiplied. "Illusion clones, orthodox but useful. Pity I can see through it" he said as he activated his box weapon. A flurry of starfishes floated all around them, "Not this things again!" Ryohei shouted as the illusions started to circle around Chrome in clockwise then formed into one huge starfish. Chrome ran under it to hit its underbelly but was caught by one of its legs and kicked her to a tree. She crashed and coughed out more blood from her already bloody mouth.

"That's enough!" Reborn's voice rang out, making Viper stop his advancement towards Chrome who suddenly became Mukuro in a split second. He clenched his trident and a chilling smirk appeared on his face and a kanji number of six appeared on his right eye, "Oya oya, it seems you've done a great deal of damage to Chrome. How shall I punish you?" Reborn stood in the middle of the two and looked on to Mukuro, "Chrome had indeed grew a bit since her last fight. We all know you won't let her get into a dangerous situation without interfering."

"Kufufufu, consider this a fair warning then," he turned to Tsuna who stiffened and Gokudera growled and stepped forward to shield the Tenth from the mist guardian's gaze, "Sawada Tsunayoshi, I expect you to keep your word. Pray you don't disappoint me." Tsuna gulped and slowly nodded while Viper hopped down from the post and looked at Reborn, "You don't pay me enough" Reborn just smirked as Mukuro eyed the storm guardian with a tiny look of distaste and said, "_I've got my eyes on you_, don't even think of taking advantage of my Chrome." Gokudera's eyebrows scrunched downwards and a faint shade of pink on his cheeks as he bellowed, "Like hell I'm gonna do something to her! And quit talking like you're interested in me, you pervert!" Mukuro said nothing as he locked gaze with him as he slowly switched places with Chrome again.

She blinked in confusion as Gokudera glared at her in full force while everyone seemed to have nothing to say. Tsuna shook off his shock and approached Chrome while taking out his handkerchief, "Here, you can wipe off your mouth with this!" She shook her head and said, "I'll dirty it..." Gokudera 'tsk-ed' and took out his own blue skull-printed handkerchief and tossed it to her, "Don't act coy around the Tenth, just use mine. Make sure it's clean when you return it though" she nodded with a blush staining her cheeks as she wiped the edged of her mouth. Tsuna and Yamamoto stayed on her side as Reborn looked at them, "That's it for now, the ones who will be training tomorrow are Yamamoto and Fon" Fon nodded as did Yamamoto and walked towards Viper with a thick envelope, "For your services" he said while Viper nodded in approval.

"Chrome, are you sure you don't need any help?" Yamamoto asked worriedly as she wobbled a bit and the stain of blood visible on her shirt. He blinked a couple of times before he offered her his jacket, she looked at him awkwardly and he smiled, "Don't worry, you can just give it back tomorrow. It won't let people see the blood." She whispered a small thanks to him as she took the jacket with a blush covering her face, while making Tsuna smile while Gokudera just said nothing and continued to walk on. They all separated on the four-way street and bid each other a goodnight with Yamamoto telling her to take it easy as she thanked him yet again the umpteenth time. Gokudera walked in a slower pace as Chrome struggled to walk quicker. He finally lost his patience and stopped walking, making her stop too. He bended on knee to the ground and patted his back,

"Climb on"

"...eh? What-"

"Just get in my back and I'll carry you. With your pace, we will be home by at least midnight."

Left with no choice, she climbed his back and snaked her arms around his neck and fastened her knees on his sides as he hold her legs with his arms. She blushed hotly as she felt the warmth of his body with her own, "I-I'm sorry..."

"Ha?"

"If I wasn't too weak, I wouldn't have to get hurt and-"

"It's our job as guardians to look out for each other, don't sweat it. But don't think this is gonna be a regular thing. If you get hurt like this again, I'm gonna leave you so no mushy stuff, got it?"

"H-Hai..."

By the time they reached the door, Gokudera let her legs go and she hopped off from his back and bowed, "Thank you" he waved it off and opened the door. He threw his bag on the floor and jumped on to the sofa and placed an arm above his eyes. Within minutes, he's asleep. She got at a good look of his face when he unconsciously removed the arm from his eyes, he looks peaceful and calm when he's sleeping unlike when he was awake. She went in her room and took out her blanket and placed it over him, like what he did when she spent the night here. She entered the bathroom and took a shower, riding the dirt and dried blood from her side. The wound itself is nothing serious, just a deep gash and the bleeding already stopped although there are a couple of ugly looking bruises on her pale stomach. After her bath, she folded Yamamoto's jacket and placed it neatly on the chair as she traced the patterns of the button gently. 'Do you like the rain guardian too, my precious Chrome?" Her eye widened and her face shaded scarlet as Mukuro's words resounded in her mind, "What do you mean 'too', Mukuro-sama?"

_'Kufufufu, you're open with the Vongola's dog yet you're also comfortable with the rain guardian's presence'_

"He's very nice to me..."

_'Whatever you decide, Chrome. Just make sure I always have a place with you...'_

"Don't say that Mukuro-sama! I'm always going to be of service to you!"

This time, Mukuro didn't answer.

* * *

Gokudera woke up with a start as a sudden clap of thunder rumbled loudly, making him roll of the sofa and look around with his hair sticking up in every direction, "Wazgoinon?' he slurred as he's half-drunk with sleep. Chrome appeared from her bedroom with the phone on her hand, "Um, it's boss-" Before she could finish her sentence, Gokudera already yanked the phone from her hands and yelled at tge speaker, "Tenth! Is everything alright? Do you need help?"

"Ah, Iie, Gokudera-kun. Reborn told me to tell you guys that since there's no school today due to a storm, the training will resume tomorrow." He can hear Reborn talking with Lambo whining about something else. He distinctly heard the words, "Failure... calculus... tutor" "If you want, I can tutor you Tenth!" he eagerly offered but instead of Tsuna, it was Reborn who answered, "I'm gonna take care of dame-Tsuna's problem. Right now, I want you to tutor Chrome with Calculus since he told me Chrome is also having trouble."

"... yes, Reborn-san"

"Bye" and with the click, he's gone.

He grumbled as Chrome shuffled at her feet as he rubbed his hand on his face, "Well, might as well get started-"

KNOCK KNOCK!

"What now?" he asked to no one in particular as he opened it to find Yamamoto in his base ball uniform, "What the hell are you doing here you base ball freak?" he asked viciously, making Chrome cringe but Yamamoto seems unaffected by this. He greeted them a good morning and walked into the apartment, "Tsuna told me to help Chrome with the school load since she's behind the lessons" Chrome looked up and suddenly stuttered, "Y-you didn't need t-to do this for me..." Yamamoto just shook his head and answered in a carefree tone, "It's no trouble at all! I'm happy to help!"

Mukuro suddenly spoke in her head, _'Kufufufu, this is going to be interesting!'_

* * *

A/N: What is Mukuro up to? Well, thanks for reading! I dunno if I'm gonna make an early update again but please, r and r to make me happy :) !


	6. Is Calculus relevant?

A/N: Hey guys, I'm so so so sorry about the late update since school is out of whack lately and prelims is looming dangerously close. I know it's a bit unfair but I've decided to make a review-target. My target right now is from 36 to 40 reviews, since I need to know what you people like and what scenarios you wanna read about so I can improvise. So, here's another update from 3A~

P.S. : You can ask questions and suggestions via review or PM. And an early happy birthday to my favorite character ever; Chrome Dokuro~!

Disclaimer: I don't own KHR!

* * *

**All about Acceptance**

**\*\-5996-/*/**

Chrome's eyebrows are scrunched as she tried to focus all of her attention to the problem in front of her. It was just an easy question he said, a second grader can answer it he said, then why can't she understand a thing? The writing is neat and Gokudera had managed to lay off the cigarettes for a moment ever since Yamamoto arrived. The question is simple: (1/X ) - ( 1/Y) = 2 ; (1/4 , 1/2) Find the equation of the tangent line of the given curve at the specified point. She felt a bit lost and looked at her tutor with uncertainty in her eye; he was a bit peeved with either her incompetence to learn what he was trying to teach her for the past two hours or because Yamamoto kept distracting her with him offering her his help which earned him a growl from Gokudera, "You want to teach her this or me?" He gritted out as Yamamoto coached her on the side of his mouth. He held his hands up in shoulder-length defensive stance, "I'm just trying to help! Calm down and take deep breaths-"

"Why the hell should I take deep breaths? I'm not going into labor!"

"Um... Can-can you please explain this to me one last time?" she peeped at his side. Gokudera glared at the girl who automatically recoiled as if predicting he will be glaring at her in full force. His eyes softened a bit as he watched her expression, her face freckled with pink on her cheeks, biting her lower lip and fingered the piece of paper with the drawing of a four pointed line. He sighed and grumbled, she looked so damn helpless that half of him wanted to yell at her to force the information into her head while the other half wants to help her the best he can. Tsuna won't appreciate it if he found out how Gokudera handled the situation with verbal abuse so he just did the latter. He sat quite close to her and leaned on the paper with his mechanical pencil at hand, making her take a whiff of his peculiar smell; gunpowder, soap and the scent of something spicy yet not overpowering.

"This time, try to listen and watch how it works; so isolate y first, then you take the derivative of y with respect to x. In another words, take the derivative of y=1/(1/X - 2), which will be 1/((X^2)(1/X - 2) ^2). You know that when X=1/4, 1/((X^2)(1/X - 2)^2) will be the slope of the tangent line. To find the equation of the tangent line, you have y=mx+b with m=1/((X^2)(1/X - 2)^2), which is 4 when X=1/4, y=1/2, and x=1/4. So all you have to do is solve for b, and I got -1/2 so the  
equation is y=4X-1/2. Got that?"

To his relief, Chrome continued looked at the paper with a thoughtful expression then nodded with a bright smile on her face, "_Grazie_!" Gokudera felt heat rushing to his face and turned to the side, "The next question is harder so you better pay attention. You're up baseball freak!" He stood up, his joints popping and stretched as he wandered to the kitchen to get something to drink. Yamamoto has the smile on his face and gave Chrome a notebook, "These are the notes I made about Japanese History. It's the summaries and outlines of previous lessons so you won't have to trouble yourself with confusing facts" She opened the notebook and looked back at the rain guardian and bowed, "Domo, you didn't have to..."

"Maa maa, anything to make it easier for you, we're friends right? You really should smile more often, you look even cuter!"

She felt her face heat up and almost hyperventilated at his words. She fumbled with the words coming out of her mouth as Yamamoto chuckled at her struggle to form a articulate sentence, unbeknown to them that Gokudera watched the whole scene; making him glower a hole on the back of the other teen and crushed the can of soda he was drinking. He humphed and threw the flattened can on the garbage, why the hell should he care anyway? Not like they have a relationship, heck they're barely even friends, more like comrades or associates so Yamamoto can flirt with her as much as he likes. Oddly, this fact didn't comfort him one bit, if not, made him more goaded.

He went back to the living room, acting as if he didn't see anything. He went back to his seat, not caring that he pushed Yamamoto a bit away from Chrome in the process. She pursed her lips as she began to scan the notes when her stomach growled. Gokudera rolled his eyes while Yamamoto chuckled in amusement as she felt her face heat up and it won't surprise her if smoke came out of her ears. "I forgot to prepare for breakfast…" she murmured as Gokudera looked at the clock, it was past eleven; better make it a brunch then. She stood up and scurried to the kitchen, within minutes; they can hear the sounds of pots and pans being placed on the stove and opened the gas range.

She opened the fridge and pulled out the left over dumplings and placed them on the counter. She poured a bit of oil on the frying pan and placed the cold miso soup in the small pot to heat. As soon as the oil sizzled, she carefully dropped the dumplings individually and quickly placed the lid over the sudden popping sound of hot oil. She turned around and almost screamed as she stared at Gokudera's grayish-green eyes. He frowned some and cocked a brow; "You're surprised to see me in my own kitchen?" he asked with sarcasm dripping from his words. She blushed at his close proximity and took an automatic step back from him, accidentally grazing her back on the hot pot; even though she's wearing a thick shirt, she felt the scalding heat of the hot material. She yelped and almost tripped forward to his chest if he had not caught her and steadied her form with his arm around her waist and his other hand holding on her shoulder. She glanced up and blushed like hell, while his eye twitched with annoyance, how much trouble does this girl usually get in a daily basis?

He cleared his throat and gently pushed her to the side, moving away from her with a good arm's length distance. He started to feel suddenly self-conscious for no reason. She was just a girl, nothing special. Sure, he … likes girls, but he just doesn't notice them like some regular hormonal teenager; he has more important things to worry about; the Tenth, school, the Tenth, his money for the rental, the Tenth… the list goes on and on and on, he will be shocked if he got a girlfriend by the end of the year alone. Then, comes this scrawny and ordinary girl one day with Rokudo Mukuro's lackeys, stating she will be Vongola's Mist guardian. He didn't hide his disdain even when he rescued her from being held hostage. The backstabber's in that vessel and he will try to possess Tsuna one way or another so he can't put his guard down for one second. He suddenly regretted to use the word 'vessel'. Was it not a short time ago they talked about her role in the Vongola family? He's getting confused with all of this, this is trickier than all the mathematical equations he's encountered and even when he tried to get along with his somewhat homicidal box animal, Uri.

Chrome just leaned on the counter, not saying anything and looked up as soon as Yamamoto's footsteps entered the kitchen area. His tranquil grin making her feel completely at ease while it's the opposite effect with Gokudera, "What do you want now?" he asked scathingly as he lowered the fire on the pan that contains the golden brown dumplings. Yamamoto didn't seem to be fazed by his friend's cold attitude and turned to the pot of miso and turned off the flames as soon as it bubbled in large sizes. He took a whiff and smiled wider, "This smells good, who made this?"

"She did", he answered, not looking away from the still sizzling pan.

"Oh? I didn't know you're a good cook, if you need some work; I can't pull some strings and ask pop if he can-"

"Not necessary!" Gokudera seethed as he turned off the gas range and fetched the spatula and strainer as Chrome hurried along to prepare the plates and disposable chopsticks which he had hundreds stored away for some reason. She felt unusually flustered when Yamamoto tried to get closer to her, she didn't had this trouble when she was with Gokudera… maybe she's just ill, yes, that's a logical explanation! Ever since she's near Gokudera, her tummy would flip and her face would heat up when he looks at her even for just a moment. Yamamoto tailed them to the small dining table and sat across Chrome who sat on Gokudera's left side. As they ate in uncomfortable silence, uncomfortable in Chrome's part while the other two looked as if they were used by this atmosphere when Yamamoto tried to start a conversation, "So Chrome; what is your favorite subject?"

Gokudera lifted a brow and rolled his eyes while Chrome blinked at the same question Gokudera asked her before, "I-um… I like art and science…"

"Aah, science is pretty cool! It's just a bit tricky with the numbers like Physics and Chemistry-"

"That's because math is a branch of science!" Gokudera retorted exasperatedly like he is teaching an arrogant child. Yamamoto nodded and carried on, "Art is amazing and it's fun to paint and sculp stuff but for me, nothing beats sports! It gets your blood pumping and adrenaline rushes into your veins and BAM! You feel-"

He kept on and on that Chrome chose that moment to drone into a daydream. She saw Mukuro's face with a sly smirk on his face, "Kufufu, is something wrong, my dear Nagi?" Her hair danced with the breeze that was always present in her psyche as Mukuro leaned on the tree. She played with her thumbs and said, "I think I am ill…"

"And why is that?" the illusionist asked as he walked towards her, "My stomach feels funny whenever I see Gokudera-kun-" as soon as she pronounced '-kun' she blushed and looked down at the lush green grass beneath her feet; "Whenever he is near, I feel… a sense of security and my pulse quickens. Mukuro didn't say anything and crept closer to her and lifted her chin to gaze on his eyes and looked deep into his mismatched orbs, "Have you felt this way about anyone? Even me?" She shook her head and he dropped his hand and looked away from her to the lake,

"Mukuro…sama?"

_"I think you better answer him…"_

"Eh?"

"Oi! I've been calling you for the last five minutes!"

"H-huh?"

She looked around and saw Yamamoto looking at her curiously while Gokudera was waving a hand on her face. She looked straight at his face and felt heat on her cheeks; it's like looking at the sun; bright yet blinding and dangerous if looked at directly, more or less in a good way of course. He sat down at his seat and mumbled on "air headed ninnies" She didn't say anything and sipped her now cold soup decorously while Yamamoto was about to pick up where he left off but looked at Chrome's face; "Ah! You have a crumb there" She blindingly tried to wipe it off but can't manage to wipe it so he leaned across the table and wiped it with a wash cloth that was hanging on his seat, "There we go!" She muttered thanks while Gokudera was just silent.

* * *

After washing and drying the dishes, she put the leftover soup in a bowl and stored it in the fridge for supper as her two tutors for the day sat in the living room to resume their lesson. Gokudera began to read on their next lesson in Calculus while Yamamoto gave her a copy of his notes and their syllabus for the subjects. She turned to look at Physical Education class and paled; volley ball. She wasn't really terrible at sports; it was just that when she was still Nagi, chances are nine out of ten that the ball hits her either on the head, forehead or on her stomach, like she was a moving target and having illusionary organs is not helping… at all.

They covered most of the basics, she even had fun with Calculus even when Gokudera looks as if he was about to bomb her to oblivion after asking him the same question for five times. Yamamoto looked at the clock and gasped, "I'm late! Pop's going to blow a fuse!" even if these were his words, he was still smiling; it made her wonder why he always has that positive expression on his face, even when he was wounded. Yamamoto cleaned up all his things and opened the door to leave, "Well, I'm going now, see you guys tomo-" His words were cut when Gokudera kicked the door close on his face. He was rather on edge since after lunch and a sudden downpour and a clash of lightning mirrored his mood. Chrome stiffened at the rumble of thunder and went into her room, saying she will take a nap.

'_Yeah, right_' he thought.

It was almost five and Chrome still hasn't come out of her room. Gokudera thought nothing of it and waves it off that she was indeed sleeping. A loud clap of thunder followed by a howl of strong winds rolled over Namimori and he almost fell off the sofa when he heard a choked scream coming from her room. He dashed in with bombs ready on his hand just to see a balled up figure wrapped in a blanket on the corner of the room shaking like a leaf. He sighed loudly and massaged his temple; the gods hated him… this he was sure.

"Oi, what's your damage? It's just thunder and lightning" he said, kneeling on her side.

Without warning; she hugged him on his midsection and continued to shake. His eyes widened in a considerable size and began to push her off, "H-hey, let go!" She didn't seem to hear him and continued to cling. He finally saw her face and her usually pale complexion are colored with reddish hue and her temperature is warmer than normal. He cursed and carried her to the bed, tucking the blanket to her chin. He walked to the bedroom and picked up the phone; dialing the number with hesitance, he doesn't know how to take care of a sick person, let alone a girl. The phone clicked and the voice answered, "Yes?"

"I don't understand why a girl as cute as Chrome-chan is staying with you while she could stay with me" Shamal said with disapproval on his voice as he leaned on Chrome's door. Gokudera glared at the lecherous doctor and scratched his head, "Not like you're my first choice! Bianchi can't go because she's doing something important, I can't contact the Tenth because he might get sick from the storm and Haru and Kyoko are out of the question." Shamal looked at him with seriousness in his eyes and stared at him,

"What?"

"Tell me the truth boy…"

"About what?"

"… Are you hitting on her?"

"Hell no!" he yelled with traitorous pink stains on his cheeks, making Shamal raise his brows at the teen's sudden answer, and in an exaggerated tone at that. He shrugged and picked out a couple of bottles from his coat pocket, "Give her one of these after every meal. Make sure she's not exposed to the cold and it might knock her out for a considerable amount of time. Her temperature will return to normal in a day or two." Gokudera picked up the bottle with suspicious eyes,

"Why do you carry these bottles with you?"

Shamal smirked cheekily and raised his chin in a smug manner, "Because I'm a doctor, so I always come prepare!"

"I told you that Chrome has a fever, not because you're-"

"Plus any girl as pretty as her should be handled properly by a professional"

"You disgusting bastard" he swore under his breath, not caring if the man heard him or not as he passed by the kitchen and placed it on the table. He looked at Shamal who was looking out of the window, "Anything else, doc?" Shamal looked at him with wide eyes and said, "You're seriously not letting me go out in this weather would you?" The storm guardian scrunched his face and answered, "This isn't an inn, go back to your lab" Shamal frowned yet refused to move from his spot. Gokudera growled and finally gave up, "Fine, but as soon as the rain stops, you're outta here!"

Shamal just tch-ed and leaned on the wall while Chrome slept through the night, a faint image of Mukuro sitting on the side of her bed; caressing her face almost tenderly, Gokudera's preparing his own portion for dinner in the kitchen, Tsuna is eating dinner with Nana and Reborn. Lambo is playing with I-pin in Tsuna's bedroom, Hibari's lounging on the Committee's room. Yamamoto is helping his father with the customers in the sushi bar while Ryohei's training in his house with push-ups. All unaware with the coming danger bigger than they had ever faced before.

xxxxxxxx

"How much longer do we have to wait?"

"We just received an invitation to the Inheritance Ceremony, now is the right time to start."

"Agreed"

A group of shadowed figures trudged along the streets of Namimori and a boy with a melancholic aura stood in front of Namimori Middle with clouded eyes. "So here is where the deceitful Vongola Primo's descendant attends…"

"It would seem so… Enma"

* * *

A/N: Whooo, all that in one night, yes, that Mukuro thing is inspired by the ending theme. Guys, I would really appreciate it if you reviewed this story because I'm in a tight loop and I actually update faster when I receive more reviews, like a gasoline in a car. Suggestions, comments and constructive criticisms are welcomed in open arms! TC!


	7. You are invited

A/N: I know you guys have been waiting for soooooo long. And I'm so sorry for that long delay. I had a rough time with school and in a bad 'cause a 'friend' just back-stabbed me and had the gull to actually plagiarize this piece in her livejournal, making it seemed that she's the one who's brainstorming in this and told her readers that I 'inspired' her. If you (creature) are reading this; I have nothing more to say to you than good luck with your life, 'coz I'm not gonna be there to help you anymore.

Anyways, enough with that dramatic moment. But my goodness, 37 reviews Thank you for giving me feedback and a tip of the hat to **WeAreMadland** for pm-ing about how you liked this fic. It made me happy to know that my story is actually being … watched? xD You've given me enough reason to come out of my misery shell!

To **kuuromuu-chii**: Is this fate? May kababayan akong kapangalan ko rin? Hahahahahaha Sana magustuhan mo ang aking pagsusulat!

To my dearest reviewers:

**TheLuciferPerson**, : Thank you for the kind words!

**DeadFlash27** , : Don't worry, summer's coming and I'll definitely try to update soon!

**masaari** , : After that initial shock about who Julie is, I'm also excited xD Thank you for also reviewing my latest story

**Sugar Dawn** , : I know, I became a little bit rusty, but thanks for that pointing that out, it's a great help!

**I-say-why-not** , : OMG, thank you (cries) I'm sorry –sniff- I'm a little emotional –sniff-

**Hero Of The Hazard** : Who doesn't love Lambo's adorable ramblings? xD Hibari's here… GET HIM!

**UsoFallido** : Thank you, hope you'll like it and please read further!

And

**Lies in Truth** : Thank you And I will, I promise.

I would also like to thank my readers who've still managed to find time and read this I hope this story will continue to live up to your likeness. Well, I've said too much so without keeping you longer, here's chapter 7!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own KHR!

* * *

**All about Acceptance**

**\*\-5996-/*/**

A bird flew in circles above the Sawada household.

It dropped a pink envelope with a red wax with the Vongola seal on it. Before the envelope could hit the ground, a chameleon's tongue caught it with its stickiness and handed it over to the sun Arcobaleno. "Thanks Leon" Reborn said as he sat on a box and opened the envelope, effectively breaking the seal to reveal a pink letter, "It's from the Ninth… So the time has finally come."

"Tsu-kun, what about breakfast?"

"Can't I'm gonna be late!" Tsuna yelled as he scampered towards the door with his uniform all slipshod and his hair on its usual bed head style. "I did try to wake you up five times." Nana said as she scooped some soup into the bowls while Bianchi and Lambo ate in silence. "It's not mama's fault if he's late. He should be responsible enough to wake up early." Reborn scolded while swallowing his rice. Nana placed the bowls on the table with a smile on her face, "How exciting, there are going to be a group of transfer students in Namimori right?"

"Eh? What's a group of transfer students? Is it a kind of flavor?" Lambo asked with his chopsticks sticking from his mouth.

"Lambo-kun it's not food. Their hometown in Shimon was stuck with numerous earthquakes so they decided to send students here since Namimori Town is pretty much free of earthquakes." Nana explained patiently.

"Hm, oh, right." Lambo said, not really understanding what Nana's talking about while Tsuna yelled, "You're not even listening! I gotta go, bye!" "Take care!" His mother yelled back as he sped towards the school.

He ran through the street as he wondered about the new students, he saw a tall girl wearing a black uniform. "Shimon Middle school? Woah, she's really tall. Is she a third year?" He asked to no one in particular. Her eyes suddenly shifted towards him and glared daggers at him for no reason. "I better keep my distance from them…" he concluded, "If they try to talk to me, I'll make a run for it-"

"GO and tell them yourself, you nincompoop", a familiar voice interjected.

Tsuna turned to see Reborn walking on the wall with Leon on his fedora, assuming his normal position, "That's why you have few friends" his tutor ended. "Re-Reborn?" he yelled, "What the heck are you doing? I told you not to follow me to school!" Reborn shook his head and continued on walking, "No can do. You've dropped your guard lately and at the time I've received a dire message from the Ninth too." He said as he took out the letter with the Vongola seal printed in front of it. Tsuna looked at the letter and tapped a finger on his chin, "The Ninth? What's that?" as he pointed on the important looking letter.

"It's a notice for the Inheritance Ceremony of the Vongola Family"

"Inheritance Ceremony? Of who and what?" Tsuna foolishly asked, making Reborn frown, "Are you thick? Of course it's where the inheritance of the title as the head of the Vongola will be passed on to you from the Ninth. Mafia from all around the world will be there" Reborn prompted as Tsuna's jaw dropped on the ground and his eyes almost bugged out.

"WHAAAAAT? I'm officially going to be the Tenth Vongola boss? You've gotta be joking! I don't want anything to do with the Mafia anymore!" he hollered on top of his lungs then began to run in circled while covering his ears, "I did not just hear that, I did not just hear that!" Reborn just calmly watched his rambling and said coolly, "Are you out of your mind? Oh and remember to always keep the Vongola ring with you"

"What?" he yelled as he only noticed the two rings tied around his neck, "Egh! I though I already hid it!" He then felt tears stinging his eyes as he tried to keep on check on his terrible luck. "Never underestimate the world's best hitman" Reborn stated smugly as they continued their way to Namimori Middle School.

"Tch, group of transfer student…" Gokudera huffed as he put on his blazer and folded the cuffs of his sleeves. Chrome peeked from the crack of her bedroom door and straightened her shirt. "Um... Have a nice day..." she trailed off, looking at the floor with a blush across her face due to her warm temperature. Gokudera raised a brow and took his bag; "Whatever. Just... sleep off that cold. And don't open up for anyone. And I mean ANYONE. Got that?" She nodded as he opened the door and left. She sighed and ran a hand to comb through her matted hair; she suddenly looked out of the window and watched Gokudera walking towards the school with his hands on his pockets making her smile a bit.

Chrome cupped her mouth with her hand, as if said something offensive. "What's wrong... with me?" she asked to no one. Knowing that standing there won't do anything good, she proceeded to making breakfast, only to discover there's already food waiting on the table. She walked slowly towards the table and saw a bottle with a note on it; "Shamal said to drink this every meal. If you don't... well that's your problem." Feeling as if obliged to follow what he wrote, she ate two pieces of buttered toast and drank the liquid and felt the clamminess of her hands slowly disappear.

After putting away the dishes, she was about to sleep when she saw Gokudera's textbook on the desk, remembering that he'd done his homework late, he most likely forgot to put in his bag. She thought for a moment before putting on her skirt and shirt and ran out if the apartment, with Gokudera's textbook secured in her arms.

"Don't worry Tenth! I won't let those transfer students bother you! If they show any disrespect, the I, your right-hand man, will show them who's boss! Hehehe I can't wait..." Gokudera smirked as he cracked his knuckles with a dark look on his face, making Tsuna flinch and wave his hands; "Iie, that's not necessary Gokudera-kun!" he yelled. Yamamoto chuckled and said, "I actually can't wait to meet them!" "Yamamoto!" Tsuna greeted with a grin on his face. Gokudera's face immediately scrunched in irritation. "There might be someone there who might like baseball and will wanna join the baseball club, right?" he pointed out. He looked around and asked, "Hm? Where's Chrome?"

Gokudera shrugged and said, "She's sick."

Tsuna turned to look at Gokudera with surprise on his face, "Eh? How did she get sick?" Gokudera looked up and scratched his cheek lightly, "There was a storm last night. She might've caught it by then."

The professor entered the classroom as he wiped his handkerchief on his thinning hairline, "As you all know, seven students from Shimon Middle School will be arriving to attend lessons here. Two of those students will come to this class. Be courteous, all right?" There was no reply to his announcement so he cleared his throat and looked at the clipboard he held on his hands.

"Now then, I'll have them introduce themselves. Come on in, Kozato-kun and… Shi… Shi… To… Kun?" he said as he squint his eyes to properly read the name written on the paper, as if he read it wrong. A hand suddenly shot out and pushed the professor out of the door's pathway. "My name… is Shitt P." A girl with a shaved head wearing a flamboyant outfit declared as she stepped inside the room, "Call me Shitopi-chan!" At first there was a second of silence before the room exploded with mixed reactions; "Eeh?" Tsuna yelped, his eyes bulging from their sockets while Yamamoto just blinked and whispered, "What-" whilst Gokudera-

"She's no human! She's… U.M.A. !" he concluded as he took out his glasses and reached for his notebook, only to discover that he left it inside of his textbook that was on top of the desk. He groaned and opted to write on a piece of scrap paper in his bag, 'Great, and on the day of the assignment's deadline too!' he thought angrily as he wrote symbols on the paper. A melancholic-looking boy stepped in after the girl, his eyes downcast and face filled with patches of bandages; the room drowned into a gloomy atmosphere. "Next up is you…" the professor looked at the red-haired boy. "I'm Kozato… Enma…" he whispered, "Mm? Can't hear you!" the professor said, cupping on his ear, gesturing him to speak up. "Kozato Enma…" he, yet again, whispered.

"What a gloomy-looking boy…" someone commented, 'He reminds me of my old self' Tsuna mused as he looked at the new student. Before the professor can open his mouth to tell the new students where to sit, there was a knock on the door and the professor revealed the panting Chrome whose hair is not in its usual pineapple-style and on her hands, was Gokudera's book.

"Ms Dokuro, why aren't you in class? And why aren't you in uniform?" the teacher reprimanded, his hands on his hips. She drew out a long breath and was about to talk when Gokudera stood up and walked past the teacher and shut the door. But even the door wasn't thick enough to silence his words; "What the _hell_ are you doing here? Didn't I tell you to sleep it off?" he shouted at her. She gulped and held out his book with her hands shaking, "A-ano, you forgot this and… and… I-I-"

Gokudera's groan was enough to silence her. He grabbed the book from her, making her wobble from the force, not returning to her usual strength. She turned around to go home when he grabbed her by her forearm. "Tch, we're going to the clinic" he grounded, pulling her with him as they went down the stairs, her steps wobbly and tried as much as she can to keep up with his pace. They entered the clinic, the nurse looking up and her eyes widened with surprise, "May I help you?" Gokudera threw the book on the seat and spoke up, "She's a student here. She wasn't supposed to go to school today and she's sick." The nurse stood up and told Chrome to sit as she took out the stethoscope from one of the drawers.

He was about to leave when the nurse stopped him, "Where are you going? You're going to stay here until I've finished checking up on her." He looked at the nurse as if she'd grown another head and gripped the doorknob, "Why the hell should I look after her? I'm not her damn keeper!" he yelled, Chrome and the nurse flinched at his harsh tone. "'Sides, I've got a class going on," he finished as he closed the door. Chrome looked down and looked sideways before, "Ah… he forgot his book again…" she muttered before the nurse poked a thermometer in her mouth.

The nurse just huffed at Gokudera's rude attitude as she checked Chrome's file; "Hmmm, from I can get, you have a 39.7 C; meaning you indeed have a fever. You might experience a slight vertigo and headaches. It says here you live at… Where DO you live sweetie?" she asked as Chrome pulled a stray strand of hair behind her ear, "Um… it wasn't written there?" she asked in a dismal tone, the nurse shook her head a no.

"That's odd. You should've put your address here before you were enrolled… even the contacts of your parents or guardian was left blank!" Her eyes widened at that and quickly formed a lie, "O-oh! My guardian must have forgotten to write it down!" she said, praying the lie was believable enough. The nurse seemed to buy it and told her to lie down and sleep for a few hours. She began to relax until the nurse said, "You can only leave after your guardian comes to pick you up. It's dangerous for a girl like you to be going home in such a state!" She shot up from the bed and shook her head, "I-Ie, that won't be necessary! I can go home later!" The nurse's gentle face turned sour and placed both hands on her hips, "I am the authority here Dokuro-san! If it comes to the health of the Namimori Middle school students, I won't let anything slip! Now just lie down and sleep!" That was when Chrome decided that this woman is more frightening than Gokudera.

* * *

Lunchtime

The bell rang throughout the school to announce lunchtime. Students filed through the halls and chattering and idle gossiping woke Chrome from her slumber and looked around and noticed the nurse wasn't in the room. Taking this as her chance, she put on her shoes and took the forgotten book as she silently closed the door. She ran through the crowd of students, not noticing a pair of eyes following her. In the classroom, Tsuna and the others were eating their lunches while the two new students were talking amongst themselves, well, not really talking. The Kozato boy was quietly munching on a sandwich while the "UMA" girl was meditating. Gokudera frowned at his lunch, silently poking at the unagi, making Tsuna look at the suddenly quiet storm guardian. "How was Chrome? What was she doing here?" Tsuna asked as he stuffed an onigiri in his mouth. Gokudera just shrugged and answered, "She just brought my book."

Tsuna looked thoughtful and smiled at Gokudera, "It's really nice of you to take such good care of her Gokudera-kun! I knew I can count on you!" the words seemed innocent enough, but for Gokudera; the words became like arrows that struck his entire being, being accompanied by guilt. He suddenly stood up and ran out of the room, "I forgot something boss!" he yelled as he sprinted towards the clinic. Tsuna was left gaping with grains of rice on his cheeks, "… was it something I said?"

Chrome walked along the corridor, not really paying attention of what was in front of her as she kept looking on the sidelines. She suddenly was flung backwards as her body collided with another person's. "I-Im sorry! I didn't-" A hand suddenly cupped her chin and made her look up. A male student wearing a fedora with a goatee was smiling quite lecherously at her and pulled her upwards, "My, what a way to meet my princess~" he hummed as he wrapped his arm around her waist. A couple of students watched the scene while several others whispered among themselves. Her face instantly blushed at the close proximity of his own face. The man smirked and she felt the hairs on the back of her head stood up. She wriggled out of his grip and sprinted towards the opposite direction. She took a breather as she leaned on the wall of an abandoned hallway when a hand gripped her shoulder.

A scream that came out from her was muffled when another hand covered it. The owner of the hands yanked her towards one of the unused classrooms and let go of her mouth. She turned around to see a very tall girl who's sporting a ponytail, "A-ano…" she started and shivered under the girl's cold gaze. She was wearing a black uniform, making it official that she might be one of the transferees. The girl raised a brow and circled around Chrome like a vulture circling a fresh carcass, and leaned on the door frame.

"You must be the mist guardian. Funny, I heard it was suppose to be a 'he' and you most definitely don't emit a deadly aura from what I heard."

Chrome's eye widened as she took a step back from the girl, "H-how… did you know that I'm a guardian?" she asked, her voice quivering from her nervousness.

The girl's face remained blank as she pointed on Chrome's neck, "That's the Vongola ring, is it not?"

"Y-yes…"

"Then it makes it easier for us to identify you."

"Who are… you?"

"Suzuki Adelheid. Third year from Shimon Middle School."

* * *

A/N: And that's that. See you all soon! Remember, Read and Review because it makes my world go 'round! :D Love you all, reviewers and non-reviewers!


	8. Voices

A/N: Hey everyone~! As you can see, I'm updating weekly~! I wanna thank all of you wonderful readers and especially the reviewers about the story! Mwah mwah mwah! (Don't worry, I don't have a bad breath!)

Here are the reviewers I would like to thank:

**TheLuciferPerson**: Those are a lot of bullets xD Anyways, I love your stories and I hope you'll still like mine!

**Silverbell1410**: hehehe, you'll find out more soon!

**masaari**: GiantTits… ahahahahaha! Lolz, good one! I'm not a fan of Adelheid, even now actually. So I would rather die than to let GiantTits hurt Chrome in this story. Here's a hint: Chrome will definitely kick some serious ass!

**Marabou**: Good to see you too :D That's actually one of the traits I want to always see in him J

**Lemonteaa** : Thanks for giving 5996 a chance J

For anyone who likes to make a request, I'm open to any Chrome shippings except yuri coz, I have no idea how to write one. **LitTleMizzy** has already requested a 2796 fic, which will be out prior this week. And just review this tory and don't forget to give me suggestions, comments and when should I update regularly coz, VACATION TIME XD~!

* * *

All about Acceptance

**\*\-5996-/*/**

A clock's soft tick echoed through the abandoned classroom as Adelheid and Chrome stared at each other. The taller girl studied Chrome with her eyes, as if giving her a full-body scan, making the girl squirm underneath her guarded gaze. She just waited until the bell rang again; signaling the end of the break. Adelheid looked out of the classroom, like she was trying to hide from something.

"Excuse me but... What do you want with me?" Chrome asked in a small voice and gripped at her skirt yet again, remembering that she hadn't brought her trident with her. Mukuro has yet to contact her and she'd know better than to bite off more than she can chew. Adelheid said nothing and strutted down the halls like a huffy peacock, male students who were scampering to their classes took a second look at her somewhat revealing skirt before entering their respective classes.  
Chrome took a moment before going out of the room, only to come face-to-face with Hibari. 'Uh-oh...' the thought echoed in her head as Hibari's eyes zeroed in on her outfit.

He crossed his arms, a movement that she never thought would be utterly menacing, and held his head high; "Are you asking to be bitten to death, herbivore?" She debated with herself on whether or not she should run for it. If she did, he will hunt her down and punish her brutally, if she were to stay, he might let her go... If he's rational enough to hear her reason. "You violated three rules and you haven't stayed here in a length of three days" She shook her head, almost  
getting whiplash as she tried to defend herself, "I-it's not what-"

"One; you are not wearing the appropriate attire."

"But-"

"Two, the bell has already ringed, since you're not in class, it will be considered as skipping classes."

"B-but I-"

"And third; you're wearing your dirty shoes inside the campus when you know fully well that every student was given his or her own pair of school shoes. A rule breaker and troublesome herbivore. Like they say; like master, like slave which is really pitiful."

Those words struck Chrome like lightning. "Pitiful? Why does everyone think I'm such a pitiful person?" the thought strummed along her consciousness that made her want to cry and have a breakdown in front of the cloud man. She suddenly started having double visions and her breath shortened. For the first time, Hibari's face was contorted with confusion and alarm as she felt her head throbbed like there was someone drilling on her temples.

She let out a series of coughs and slumped on a dusty chair, her vertigo had gotten worse, like the whole world was spinning around in random directions. She continued to cough and the dust that entered her nose didn't help the slightest. She looked towards Hibari, not knowing if she's now hallucinating as another figure ran towards her, shouting words she didn't understand. And within minutes, she fainted. But before she lost her grip on consciousness, she thought she got a whiff of gunpowder, "Gokudera-san?"

-5996-5996-5996-5996-5996-5996-

Gokudera shook his head as her carried her on his back. He shot a look of clear disdain on the prefect, which was reciprocated, with interest. "You are the most annoying and troublesome girl I've ever come across," he said as he carried her towards the clinic, yet again. The nurse, who was pacing around the room, gave out a relieved sigh as soon as he entered with Chrome on his back. "She's such a stubborn girl!" she huffed as Gokudera laid her on the bed she previously slept on. The nurse listened to her breathing and checked her eyes and took out her log book, "I'm going to have a word with her guardian. Goodness, almost giving me a heart attack..." she mumbled and to him; "You're her classmate, correct?"

"Yeah...?" he answered, not knowing where this is going; "Can you get parents to come here and pick her up? She's in a delicate state and I advice not to give her any additional stress." Gokudera's eyes widened and began to work on an excuse around the given task, "Yeah, about her parents... they're... in abroad... working! And she's staying with her … uhh, older cousin! So-"

"Then call her cousin then! I won't let this girl leave without adult supervision." the nurse said. Gokudera's mind began to click like a Rubik's cube and suddenly came up with an idea, "I know where she lives, I can call her cousin and if she's busy, I can take her!" The nurse looked unsure on whether or not trusting the delinquent-looking young man, but her instincts tell her that she can trust him and nodded, pushing the log book to him, "Sign in your name and relation to the patient. And no, you can't put boyfriend on it."

Gokudera felt a vein pop on his temple and grabbed the pen and signed his name. Under the relation column; Classmate. And he made sure to underline it twice and almost threw the book back at the smirking woman, 'Damn bat making assumptions. And damn girl for coming here, I could've been upstairs studying that UMA but instead I'm here taking care of this... this... puppet!" His temper flared up and tried to suppress the guilty voice that's berating him for the word 'puppet'. The moment they get back into his apartment, oh, there will be hell to pay.

* * *

It was already two.

Chrome's eyes fluttered open and was startled to find herself back in the clinic with Gokudera leaning on the wall while writing in his notebook, "Ano... Gokudera-san-" Before she could let out another word, the nurse came in with a bottle of orange plastic, in it are two or three white tablets though it wasn't meant for her. The nurse looked at her with a stern look on her face, "Dokuro-san, try to make that stunt again and I' telling this to your cousin!"

"My... cousin?" she asked while her left eye is blinking in confusion. Gokudera immediately stood up and took his bag, "Well, we'll be going now. C'mon-" The nurse held up her hand and fetched a clean sheet of paper and wrote something on it, "This is the list of what you should do until your sickness is gone. You might have complications so even just a slight high fever can make more damage than it should to a stronger person."

"Stronger..." Chrome repeated in a whisper. Somehow, the word bothered her more than usual; she should be more immune to it. The word had been flung at here for so many times, she didn't know why. And she had no idea on how to make it hurt less. Gokudera was especially cold to her, and she has no idea why; she just wanted to help and it backfired on her. They walked out of the school with no words spoken between them; all the while gave her the time to arrange her thoughts. They turned to the corner of the street; she suddenly stopped walking and he looked back. For a minute or two, she thought he was going to come to her, but he just turned around and continued walking. That particular action made her heart clench and tears welled up in her eye. She blinked back the tears and bit her lip; she continued to follow him in a much slower pace as if trying to make an even greater distance between them. 'Why? It's not like we had anything besides camaraderie. We're not even friends..."

_"Chrome..."_

"Huh?"

Chrome stopped for the second time.

It was Mukuro's voice.

But it's not resonating in her head, it's more like he was nearby. She whipped her head to see a figure like Mukuro's and almost instinctively, she followed the person through the crowd, and Gokudera was forgotten.

=59/96=

He opened the door and threw his bag on the couch and waited for Chrome to come inside. He waited for two minutes and she still didn't came... he then slammed the door and huffed. If she thinks he's going to wait for her, she's got another thing coming! He pulled the chair and sat on it, deciding to just make his assignment. He opened the book Chrome brought and flipped through the pages in hopes to find the assignment he failed to submit. A small note fell from the book and it was addressed to him. He carefully read it and recognized the neat handwriting. He mumbled a curse before throwing the note on the sofa, but it fell and went into the trash bin.

It reads:

_Gokudera-san,_

_You've forgotten your textbook with our assignment in it. Thank you for taking care of me and I hope I'm not a bother. I may not be reliable in fights but I will try my best not to be a burden to anyone anymore, I promise. Thank you for everything -CD_

The sun has already set and Chrome has yet to enter that door.

Gokudera already ate his dinner and left her portion on top of the table. He wasn't able to concentrate on anything; his homework, reading and watching the news on the television. He already began panicking internally, and he would damn himself to hell if he'd ever worry about her in front of others. Maybe... she's lost? No, she can't be that stupid. She was following him earlier; sure she stopped for a bit... "Oh shit..." he muttered. He grabbed his coat and was about to run out when his phone rang.

He 'tsk-ed' and answered the phone with urgency in his voice, "WHAT?"

"Gokudera-kun!"

"Tenth!" did his voice rose a bit?

"We found Chrome; she's here in my house. Yamamoto-kun had-"

Before Tsuna can complete the words, Gokudera yelled, "I will be right there!" and actually ran out with the phone still in his hand. He made a couple of sharp turns, almost bumping into a cyclist and a couple, which made the guy yell a curse at him and he responded with a rude hand gesture. He arrived at Tsuna's house in record time and knocked vigorously on the door. Nana opened the door and a look of surprise flashed on her face.

"Gokudera-kun? Tsuna must be expecting you, come on in."

"Thank you" he panted as he stepped into the Sawada residence.

* * *

Tsuna's room was quiet and no one is talking. Tsuna and Bianchi huddled around Chrome. She was shaking and her face was deathly pale; "We can't take her to the hospital, they'll be asking personal documents and we can't ready that in time." Bianchi softly said, Reborn turned to Gokudera and asked, "Where were you when this happened? How come it was Yamamoto who carried her here?" Gokudera's gaze dropped in shame and replied, "We… were walking back towards the apartment and I was so sure that she was following me and-"

"The point of making Chrome stay with you is so that you can look out for her. How can you keep an eye on her when she's not even with you?" Reborn said in a neutral tone, making it harsher than it should. Tsuna just said nothing and just grabbed Chrome's hands when she began coughing again. "This is no ordinary flu" Bianchi concluded, "Her breathing is erratic and her pulse is weak." Chrome's eyes opened and called out the first person she saw,

"Bossu?"

"I'm here Chrome" he assured, squeezing her hand tightly as she squeezed back.

"What happened?" Reborn asked

"Chotto Reborn! You can't ask her-" Tsuna started, but he was interrupted by Chrome, "It's alright boss, I can talk properly at least…" Bianchi and Tsuna helped her out while Gokudera didn't dare move a muscle. 'Coward' a voice said in his head; he waved it off and just leaned on the door frame. "Where were you? I thought you were-"

"Shush!" Bianchi hissed, sending a dark look on Gokudera. He just glared and looked at the other direction while Reborn proceeded to his questioning, "What happened that made you so ill?" Chrome took a shaky breath and said, "It's because of my organs." Everyone's eyes except for Reborn widened and began to voice out their questions but Reborn beat them to it, "And what can you tell us about it? How can you tell?"

"I… was following Gokudera-san back to his apartment when I saw… a person who looked like him…"

"A person? Who?"

"A person who looked like Mukuro-sama…"

Tsuna's eyes widened again and his mind began to race. A person who looked like Rokudo Mukuro… it can't be.

"Are you sure you didn't mistake it for anyone else?" he asked. She shook her head and coughed again. Her forehead was beaded with cold sweat and her stomach was like a balloon, inflating and deflating at any time it chooses, like someone's controlling it. She in haled and continued, "I followed the man but then I saw myself trapped into an alley filled with shadows. There was a voice…"

"A voice?"

"Hai, it was eerie and at first I thought it was Mukuro-sama but it was also different. It kept telling me to follow him, I panicked so I… ran and the last thing I remember was that I bumped into rain man and… I woke up here." She finished and closed her eyes again.

* * *

A/N: Cliffie! I know you hate those kinds of things, but that's what makes a good story, a little suspense right? Tune in next week my lovely readers! Bye bye!


	9. Dreams and friends

A/N: People, an early update so sorry for those who haven't had the time to review the story but I love that you still leave PMs for me to read~ 3 And I would like to thank the reviewers who did manage to review the previous chapter:

**masaari**: awww don't worry, countdown for 3 days because your frustration will be bye-bye xD Thanks for always reviewing!

**Marabou**: Thanks for pointing that out and look, you didn't have to wait for a week! :P

and last but definitely not least;

**Kalu D A**: Thank you thank you thank you for that :) Some people say that I was copying a 5996 author though truthfully I haven't read a single 5996 fic :( but I get my inspiration while imagining the 'What if?' moments :) Thank you again and please keep on reading!

Comments, suggestions, questions, requests and constructive criticism are always welcomed! Flames are prohibited and if you sent one, I will come to your house while sleeping and bite you to death. (I have large canine teeth)

Disclaimer: I Don't Own KHR!~ :(

* * *

**All about Acceptance**

**\*\-5996-/*/**

**Cold**

_Drip_

**Dark**

_Drip_

**Frightening**

_Drip_

_**Chrome**_

_Drip_

Who's there?

_**My Chrome**_

_Drip_

Mukuro-sama?

_Drip drip_

_**My cute, adorable Chrome...**_

Mukuro-sama! Where are you? Why can't I move? Why can't I see anything?

_**I'm sorry**_

Huh?

**x0x0x0x**

She can hear it.

Her heart thumping on her ears and a couple of tears rolled on her cheeks as she stared at the ceiling. She knows this place; whether because of the faint smell of lingering gunpowder or the sound of the television turned on outside, she knew this place because she feels safe. She looked sideways to see a used towel cloth and a basin filled with cold water and a pitcher. Chrome tried to move but her whole body felt numb, how long was she sleeping? She tried to move her hand, but her whole arm felt like it was weighs down by thick slabs of concrete. She blew her bangs out of her eyes and blinked at the sun's bright ray that was peeking out the window.

The door creaked open and Gokudera came in with a tray of food. She made to get up but Gokudera grounded out; "Don't move around. The Tenth and the others are worried about you. What the hell were you thinking? Running off like that when you know you're sick. Geez why are you so... Gah!" he yelled, scratching the back of his head in frustration. Chrome nibbled her lower lip and tried to look anywhere but him; "How did I get here?" Gokudera set the tray on the side and sat down, "Reborn-san told me to take you back here so that... I can keep an eye on you. They wanted to take you to the hospital but you don't have records under Chrome Dokuro and you can't use the name Nagi either." She looked at the ceiling and stared at the light bulb, 'Don't be silly, of course he'd been ordered to look out for me...' The ring of the phone suddenly echoed outside, making him sigh and stood up again to answer it. Chrome watched his retreating back and looked at the tray; there was a plate of bacon strips with scrambled egg and a cup of miso soup.

The sight of food made her drool and her stomach grumbled loudly in response. She didn't know whether she's allowed to eat or she should wait for him. He was talking loudly on his phone and it seemed his voice suddenly became more hushed. She shivered suddenly, goose bumps rose on her forearms and neck; Gokudera suddenly reappeared with a serious look on his face; "The Tenth might have an idea about who the Rokudo Mukuro look alike is" Either it was in spur of the moment or an adrenaline rush; she suddenly stood up and said, "Ho-honto?*"

Gokudera suddenly stiffened just stared at her, within the matter of seconds; his face flushed and blood seeped from his nose. Chrome looked down at what he was stating at zeroed in on the nightgown, which was unbuttoned and exposing a large part of her chest. She screamed and hid under the covers while Gokudera ran out while pinching his nose while yelling jumbled words. She peeked out of her hiding place, her face is hot and now, she's absolutely sure she can't look at him eye-to-eye.

"Damn Bianchi dressing her into something like that!" he seethed as he plugged tissue in his nostrils. He turned on the faucet at took off the bloodied tissues from his nose and threw them into the wastebasket. He sighed as he washes his face with the cool water and wiped it dry with a towel. The scent was different; more floral, more... feminine? He opened his eyes and realized he was wiping his face on Chrome's towel. The image of what happened earlier entered his head and his face grew warm as he threw the towel on the ground, "Goddamit!" He had a staring contest with the wrinkle towel and gave out a loud huff of breath and placed the abused towel back on the towel rack and closed the door. He looked at the clock which read 9:03 AM and went to the drawer to retrieve a carton of cigarettes. He turned on his lighter and the flame flickered to life and lighted his smoke. He quickly remembered that Chrome's in the apartment also so he clicked open the window open and exhaled the excess smoke outside. He watched the smoke curled and danced with the breeze and looked up at the sky- _THUMP_ he was jolted back to reality when a sound of something fell from Chrome's room. He ran inside to see her slumped into a kneeling position with her nightgown on the chair and she was trying to get into her turtleneck sweater but didn't manage to put her left arm in its proper sleeve, though he was thankful that she was wearing a pair of long cycling shorts and not a skirt. She poked her head out of the hole and her hair stood up like a bird's nest.

"Nice hair style" he drawled as he helps her stand. Her knees were wobbling as she tried to hold on his hand. 'He has rough hands...' she mused as he pulled her up while holding on the sweater's left sleeve, the one she'd been missing. No words were spoken between since the earlier scene; Chrome's stomach suddenly broke the silence, making him look at her incredulously while she just wishes the ground will suddenly come to life and swallow her whole. She's not far from using her illusion for an escape route right now. She pulled on a couple of hair strands while he nudged the tray to her; "Here, you should eat first. The Tenth and the other Vongola guardians will meet up at Nammy's later. Reborn wants to talk about what happened to you yesterday. Got that?" She just looked at the tray, not bothering to look up, and nodded at him. Her fever was miraculously gone and her organs are properly working again.

* * *

The two of them sat on the booth while waiting for the others. Gokudera just stared out of the window with a hand under his chin while Chrome just stared on the table while clutching her school bag. People around them were whispering which the subject seemed to be about them, but more specifically on Chrome's appearance. Her hair wasn't on its usual pineapple-style and her medical eye patch was covered by a good portion of her hair. She thought that she looked weird and out of place until a waitress who came to take their order squealed, "Waa, you're so adorable! Are you a lolita model?" Gokudera ignored the other girl while Chrome looked at her with a blank face; "Lolita…?" The waitress took out her cell phone and showed her a picture of a cute girl with a peace sign while wearing a puffy pink dress and her face is caked with light make up and her hair is pinned up in a double ponytail. "I thought you were one of those 'Gore Lolitas'* they've been talking about but I guess they haven't arrived in Namimori yet," the girl sighed sadly. She suddenly switched her mood and held up a notepad, "So what can I get 'cha?" she asked. Chrome looked at Gokudera who obviously ignored the girl so she just asked for two cups of water. The girl nodded then tottered off while humming.

"You seem to socialize now," Gokudera suddenly said, making her look at him with a wide eye. "Before, you won't even come to meetings, Hibari doesn't too but it's more unusual for you to even be here." "But you took me with you…" she replied as she fumbled with her bag's buckle. Gokudera looked at her for a moment and slowly looked back at the window; "Yeah, I guess…" The waitress brought their drinks and told them to call for her if they need anything else. It was already past an hour and no one came, this made Gokudera a bit… antsy; "Where in the &*%#-ing world are they? The Tenth said- wait… the Tenth isn't here! Something must've-"

_Briiing_!

His cell phone rang and he immediately answered it, "Hello?" Thankfully, it was Tsuna who was on the other line. "Tenth! I thought you said we would at Nammy's at-" Tsuna cut him off, "Sorry Gokudera-kun but we have to meet at school right now!" Before Gokudera could say anything, he heard Tsuna screaming and Reborn's voice telling him to get off the phone. He immediately stood up, much to Chrome's and everyone else's surprise and ran out, yelling at her; "Don't just seat there like an idiot! The Tenth needs us!" She said nothing and just ran out after him, her leg was scraped by the table but she just ignored it and continued to follow him towards Namimori middle.

When the reached the school, there was a black banner hanging up in front of the whole building with a kanji written on it. "Korekiyo?" Tsuna pronounced, uncertain if he got it right. "It's Shukusei…" the new student, Kozato Enma mumbled. "TENTH!" Gokudera yelled on top of his lungs, , making everyone who was gathered outside stare at the two newcomers. Chrome panted and clutched her leg as it throbbed while Gokudera stood dutifully at Tsuna's side, "What's going on here? I thought it's for students who're taking supplementary classes?" he asked.

"It's Adelheid's Liquidation Committee" Enma answered.

Tsuna tilted his head to the side and repeated, "Adelheid?"

Enma nodded and explained, "She's a transferee like me. She's in third year; she manages our school's Disciplinary Committee. The president of the Liquidation Committee..." Tsuna's face blanched and looked up, "That's exactly like Hibari-san!"

"Look at the rooftop! There's somebody there!" a random student yelled while pointing up. They all looked at where he was pointing and they saw two dark figures facing each other.

"Adelheid..."

"Hibari-san!" _and the Adelheid person too!_

Adelheid will... knock out that guy." Enma concluded confidently, like he knows the outcome of the battle. Tsuna stared at him for a moment before breaking out- "If that's the case, then the strongest Disciplinary chairman, Hibari-san, will be beaten up!" _And he will be out looking for revenge again like he did with Mukuro! _He kept running in circles before an idea popped in his brain, "Let's go Enma-kun!"

"Eh?"

"Over here!" Tsuna yelled, pointing at the stairs leading straight to the roof; "You know her right?"

Adelheid stood straight with her hands at her side firmly as she glared at the Namimori prefect, "Looks like you're ready to fight." She observed as HIbari also stood firmly on the ground with wind whipping back his blazer and his hair, "Of course. Your actions are intolerable, let's … end it here" he gritted out as he pulled out his tonfa and readied himself in an offensive position. The girl was taken back by the seriousness of his words and actions when she heard a loud noise from behind her;

"Hibari-san!" Tsuna yelled as he, Enma, Gokudera and Chrome ran towards them, but soon found that they're not the only ones there. "You came, Tsuna!" Yamamoto exclaimed with a burly person beside him. "Yamamoto-kun, you're here too?" he looked at Yamamoto's companion and suddenly felt he shrunk, 'Eeek! A delinquent!' Yamamoto chuckled and pointed his hand on the new person, "You know this guy… is one of the transfer kids who joined the baseball club! He's Mizuno Kaoru!" he smiled. 'Tha-that's a middle schooler?' Tsuna gulped.

"What are you doing Hibari?" another voice entered the scene; Tsuna looked around and saw Ryohei with another student wearing glasses and looked absolutely annoyed for some reason. "Show them who's boss!" the bespectacled teen shouted with an arrogant grin on his face and another much rounder teen behind him, "Looks like you got yourself into trouble Adelheid" his deep voice trembled.

'Who ARE these people?' Tsuna asked in his mind but pushed the thought away as he focused on what was happening at the moment.

The arrogant teen looked at Enma and drawled, "Oh… so you came too; Loser Enma?"

"Koyo Rauji…" Enma acknowledged him and the tubby teen raised a hand and simply said, "Hey…"

They noticed a shadow from above and looked up to see Shitt P. flying around like Superman. "Why are the transferee students gathering here too?" he asked out of panic but no one seemed to notice his outburst. "It's starting!" Yamamoto said, making Tsuna stop his rambling. "Be purified!" Adelheid declared as she took the first move and ran towards Hibari. She flashed her lederhosen; making the boys, except for Hibari and Ryohei, blush at the sight and retrieved to be what looked like a-

"Metal fan?" Yamamoto asked while Gokudera's mouth was wide open in awe at the sight of an unusual weapon. She flicked her weapon skillfully at Hibari while Hibari deflected her attacks equally with his tonfas, effectively exchanging her attacks. "That's another violation; I'm the only one who is allowed to bring weapons to school" he spat as he deflected another swipe with his right tonfa. "For that guy not to waver even when Adelheid's beautiful underwear's showing! What a guy!"

"We're not all perverts like you!" Ryohei countered while Tsuna bawled, "Hibari-san's really strong! She better apologize to him!" At that moment, Adelheid's eyes narrowed and muttered, "Naïve" and a sliver of what looked like a flame flashed between her fans. She folded them back and jumped backwards, her knees bending and sparks began to smoke around her form, "Tch, this is harder than I anticipated…" she said as she stood up.

"I will bite you to death." Hibari announced and rose up his tonfas in its most deadly position for his final attack, "Eeek! This isbad! He's going to seriously bite her to death!" Tsuna said, yet again. "That's why you gotta stop them" a tiny yet scary voice appeared from behind. A very frighteningly familiar voice, "Stopping the family's rambles is your job as boss."

Tsuna unfortunately turned around and saw Reborn wearing nothing but a loincloth and swinging from a vine that is connected to God knows where, "Geh, Reborn?" before he could move out of the way, Reborn kicked him at the square of his back that sent him flying in the middle of the attacking Hibari and Adelheid. As the two threw their punch, they hit not their intended target, but the unlucky Vongola-Decimo-to-be. Tsuna whimpered as he felt the full force of the attacks on both sides of his face then slumped on the ground with his whole body throbbing from the abuse he received.

"What are you doing?" Hibari asked gallingly while Adelheid said, "Do you want to die?" He cringed at the two's chilling glare and spotted Reborn landing to their level with his mafia uniform back on; "R-reborn! What are you doing?"

"I told you, it's your job as the Mafia boss to settle these kinds of fights" now everyone in the Vongola looked confused. "What does he mean y that…?" Chrome asked Gokudera who shrugged his shoulder, "Beats me but this is something serious. Reborn-san won't come stopping a fight unless it's needed."

"Reborn, it's a school fight! What does my role of being a mafia boss comes into play?" Tsuna asked, gotten more confused as the seconds went by, "You shouldn't fight with guests." Reborn replied coolly as if teaching an incompetent nursery student.

"Guests?"

"Yeah, they're called the Shimon family. They're a mafia family that was invited to the Vongola Inheritance Ceremony" he said and threw the letter to Tsuna who fumbled to catch it. Stuna was silent for a moment before "WHAT?"- he exploded. "The transfer students are mafia?" he turned to Enma and asked, "You too, Enma?" Enma looked at him with a neutral façade and responded, "… you never asked." Yamamoto looked surprised in a happy way while Gokudera scowled. Ryohei was silent and so was Chrome, who never said anything about the revelation; she never met them before in a classroom setting so she couldn't have expected more.

"Inheritance Ceremony? But didn't Sawada already earn that title after he beat Xanxus who was the other candidate at that time? Will having the ceremony change anything?" Ryohei asked.

"You're really clueless, Ryohei. Being a candidate to being the official mafia boss is as different as heaven and hell. As the Mafia boss, dame-Tsuna will have the control of the entire underground society" he explained. Everyone soaked up in the information when Gokudera's brain ticked, "Hold on! If we're having a ceremony then that means…" Now everybody's looking at Tsuna with wide eyes. "N-noo it's-!"

"Hey! What are you doing here?" A teacher suddenly appeared holding a stick and an angry look on his face, "Get back to class!" He huffed and stomped down the stair while seething, "Crazy kids these days." Then, another figure came out and this time, it was much thinner and taller than the teacher. "Julie! You bastard, where have you been all these time?" Rauji yelled and vein popped on his temple. Julie yawned in an uninterested manner and looked around, "There's nothing going on here… and I thought students were gossiping about a major fight here. Guess they were wrong…" He immediately spotted Chrome and walked confidently up to her, "Well hello there princess~" Chrome shivered and crept closer towards her fellow guardians, more in particularly to Gokudera. "Now that everything's in order, let's start with what the mafia boss can do…" Reborn cleared his throat.

Julie kept leering at her with a strange smile that made her cringe and suddenly clinged onto Gokudera's sleeve. Almost everyone in the Vongola, including Gokudera himself looked alarmed at her sudden closeness. But instead of the usual blushing and running away, she looked more afraid and faintly shaking as she held tighter on his sleeve like it was her lifeline. Reborn continued talking like nothing transpired, "- and that's that. Well, go back to your classes now!"

Everybody but Tsuna, Reborn, Gokudera and Chrome went back to their home, with Julie winking at her sadistically. Chrome looked shaken while Tsuna tried to calm her down as Gokudera tried to pry her fingers as gently as he possibly could. "Chrome? What happened, what's the matter?" Tsuna asked with worry evident in his eyes. Chrome didn't say anything and as soon as Gokudera managed to free his cuff, she leaned on the railing with her face sweating bullets and her eye not really focusing on one place.

_Chrome...  
_  
"...no" she muttered

_Come to me Chrome…_

"Chrome?" Tsuna hesitantly approached her. As he took a step forward; she suddenly screeched and tried to take a step back but it was futile since her back was on the railing. "Tenth watch out!" Gokudera yelled as he walked sideways, mentally calculating the possibilities of an outcome. Reborn studied Chrome's haphazard form and noticed her Mist ring shining on and off. Tsuna swallowed a lump in his throat and tried to coax her back, "Chrome, it's me! Calm down! Tell us what's wrong!" Chrome suddenly felt a thrill of pain shooting in her head and she screamed and her knees bucked down. Tsuna ran towards her but Gokudera saw her eye glazed and suddenly, numerous knives appeared and started to attack him. "Wha?" Before one of the knives could touch him, Reborn kicked him out of the way and Leon turned into a long rope. He threw Leon around Chrome and tugged her down, making her groan and struggled to get free. Gokudera kneeled next to Tsuna, "Tenth, are you alright?" Tsuna nodded towards Chrome, "Don't worry about me. Help Chrome!" Gokudera panicked internally; I don't know how to do that! Reborn tugged Chrome harder, making her fall to the ground and immediately turned Leon into a pistol and pointed at Chrome's head.

"Reborn?"

"Reborn-sa-"

BANG!

Her body stopped moving and the knives disappeared into a thin mist. Tsuna looked dazed for a while then scrambled to Chrome's side, "Reborn! Wh-why?" Gokudera stared at the Arcobaleno with the same reaction. Reborn's eyes were covered by his fedora at fist but he pushed it back with the mouth of his pistol. "Relax, I didn't kill her. I just shot her with a calming bullet. It was a prototype that Giannini was working on. Though I think it would be better if we put her into probation until we find out what's causing this erratic behavior." Tsuna looked troubled by this but it was Gokudera who spoke, "But… what will happen to her? IS she going to be alright?" Reborn looked at Gokudera, "Do you have any better ideas?" he asked in a serious tone. Gokudera hesitated for a moment then Chrome suddenly muttered, "Gokudera-san…"

"Chrome!" Tsuna yelped and helped her sit up, "Are you alright? What happened?"

"Eh?" she tilted her head and looked around with a blank look on her face, "I… don't remember…"

"This is bad, Reborn; what are we going to do?" he asked Reborn but this time, even Reborn can't answer it confidently. "Gokudera, stay with her twenty-four seven at best, don't let her out of your sight and she begins to act strange again, stab her with this." Reborn ordered and retrieved a syringe that was filled with blue liquid from inside his fedora.

"What-"

"That's the liquid form of the calming bullet I used. You better go now and Chrome?" she looked up at him with a tired expression in her eye, "I would like to know about this… voice you kept hearing about." She nodded then suddenly fell fainted. Tsuna tried to carry her but Gokudera took her other side and carried her at his back, "Don't worry Tenth, I can take it from here." Tsuna just silently nodded and bid them goodbye, but not before;

"Gokudera-kun. Take good care of her, 'Kay?"

Gokudera said nothing and just nodded dutifully and started to walk down the stairs with Chrome wrapping her arms around his neck. It was the second turn towards the block of his apartment when Chrome regained her senses; "… where… am I?" She just saw silver and 'eep-ed' when she realized she was hugging Gokudera's neck while he carried her. "I can walk! You can put me down please!" she yelped and untangled her arms and tried to push back. Gokudera locked his arms under her legs, "Oi, either stay still and shut up or I'll let Reborn-san take you into rehab!" She immediately stopped her protests and settle on placing her hands on his back.

"Um… Gokudera-san?"

"What now?"

"Thank you… for letting me stay with you"

"Tch, and you like that? I sure as hell don't" he drawled, mentally counting the seconds they have before reaching their destination.

"… because… I feel safe with you…"

His face flushed but he ignored it and mumbled, "Stupid girl."

Chrome didn't say anything but smiled at the crass words.

* * *

*Honto= Really?

*Gore Lolita= A loli fashion sub-genre which exhibits a "Broken doll" theme with painting blood or fake wounds on a body part.

A/N: The 2796 story will be out whether tomorrow or on Saturday so stay tuned :D


	10. Accept Yourself

A/N: Hey people! This is the regular update~ Now as you all know; I was suppose to have a 'quota' about the review I needed to continue a chapter. I know that this might come as unfair to some of you who don't really like posting or typing reviews but I foolishly accept a challenge given to me by sweetangel014. Yeah, I know it's too troublesome but I have to make at least **56** reviews before posting a new one :( If I received 56 within 2-3 days, I promise I will make the earliest update and a bonus request ficlet you can vote via my profile as a thank you and an apology for making you guys write a feedback.

I would like to thank the following who'd reviewed the previous chapter:

**MentholCandy: **Thanks for reading the story, I really appreciate it :)

**masaari: **You're reviews never cease to make me smile :D I never thought I could make anyone happy by just my stories! I was a little worried that I messed up the whole "Shimon is mafia" scene. It's a good thing you approve of it! I promise, I will update sooner :)

**TheLuciferPerson: **Hmmm, I rather view Gokudera as a brash hotheaded teen but with a rather 'innocent' view in sexuality. I'd prefer him being blissfully oblivious with the female body since he's too focused on protecting Tsuna rather than oogling at girls with nice bodies. Plus it would be rather weird if he doesn't make a reaction if Chrome stripped in front of him but he blushed when he saw Adelheid's lederhosen… (refer last chapter)

**Silverbell1410: **I'm really sorry you didn't get to review, but it's all good! :) And it's really good news for me to know that the characters aren't OOCs. Hope you like the story so far!

Disclaimer: I don't KHR!

* * *

**All about Acceptance**

**\*\-5996-/*/**

"**Creating something from nothing, and nothing from something; thus bewildering the enemy. Rendering the family's true form intangible with visions of defeat… that is the role of the mist guardian"

* * *

**

It's cold…

Very cold… like walking barefooted in snow. It felt like tiny needle stabbed you in every exposed flesh and you can't breathe from the limited oxygen. Then you began to feel sleepy, like you never wanted to pen your eyes again because your lids feel so heavy… Chrome looked up and so nothing but mist, silky purple mist that enveloped her whole form. She can see her breathe as she tried to call out for someone, anyone, to come and save her. She heard footsteps, at first they were light, like a child's pitter-patter but gradually became heavier and then it became a rhythm; following the beating of her heart. She looked at the mysterious black figure that approached her. She couldn't see the face just the outline; it had to be a male. He was tall, thin and a bit lanky but the trait that caught her eye was the outline of a pineapple.

"Mu-Mukuro-sama!" she yelled, her eye brimmed with happy tears and she temporarily forgotten the cold mist. She ran to him, not caring if she was shivering but as fast as her feet could carry her, a step she took became a step backwards. She held out a hand towards the shadow, "Mukuro-sama… help…!" The shadow said nothing and instead looked at her with a white outline of almond shapes for eyes and a mouth that turned into a sadistic smile. She immediately stopped running and held a hand and gripped her chest. This… was not Mukuro. Whenever she talked with Mukuro, even just with her psyche, she always felt warm and secure. This person was emitting a sense of forbidding, like there a multiple snakes wrapping themselves on her body, making it hard for her to breath. The person continued to smile sadistically at her. Her voice was caught in her throat and her whole form was trembling. This has to be a nightmare… Yes, just a nightmare. Any second, she would open her eyes and see the ceiling or maybe, if she was lucky, she might even get a glimpse of Gokudera-san. Or if she was really lucky, Mukuro might talk to her again and calm her down with his serene presence.

'Nufufufu, unfortunately, this is no dream my dear~'

Her eye widened and tried as she might, she can't summon enough strength to use her trident that was by her side the whole time. Her face covered with cold sweat and the hairs on the back of her neck stood. She opened her mouth to scream for him to not come any closer but no words came out, it was like a choked scream. His hand was reaching to her, inching closer.

The next thing she knew, the hand was slowly gouging on her right eye…

"No… no… HELP ME!"

"Chrome! Hey, wake up! Hey!"

She gasped as she felt someone shaking her and immediately opened her eye to see Gokudera watching at her with an alarmed look on his face, his hair was dishelved and his hands were tight around her shoulders and tears were rolling down to her cheeks. "You…" he trailed off, not knowing what to say; she embraced him, making him let go of her out of shock. He came back to his senses and tried to pry her off of his body, "Oi! Let go!" he kept pushing her back but it made her hold on tighter.

"Please… even just this once…"

He stopped his pushing and leaned closer, "What?"

"Just this once… please… don't leave me alone…"

As much as he wanted his midsection to be free again, he didn't have the heart to refuse her wish. And so he leaned back and just let her cling to him, once again. The girl became a magnet for trouble; more than ever, even when she became the chink of the armor of the otherwise iron defense of Vongola. He felt her erratic breathing went back slowly to a usual rhythm and he arms slackened to his side and she leaned back, not meeting his face and stared at the ceiling through her slightly red eye. "I… I'm sorry for the indecent behavior…"

"… Enough of this. Next time you get all crazy again, I'm going to have to inject you with Reborn-san's serum" he threatened as he stood up and straightened his now slightly damped shirt. She sat up and rubbed her eye while muttering an apology about soiling his shirt. He didn't say anything and just went out and closed the door. He leaned on the door and heard her sniffling again, the sound was enough to make him frown. The mafia world doesn't allow weak-hearted people with a weak body to boot. "You… don't belong here…" he whispered, his hand flattened on the door and closed his eyes. Footsteps began to approach the door so he just walked into the kitchen and washed the dishes he used earlier. She came out, wearing her Namimori uniform and holding her bag. Chrome placed her trident in her bag and drank some water in her canteen.

"Reborn-san will talk to you after class so don't wander off."

"Hai…"

By the time they've reached school, Tsuna was fidgety to say the least and Enma had numerous new bandages all over him. They covered all the basics of the Edo period and then the principal announced that school was declared half-day since there was an urgent call for all school organizations. Yamamoto chuckled happily and raced towards the baseball field while the other students celebrated at the extra free time. Tsuna slumped to his seat and sighed, earning Gokudera's attention, "Did something happen Tenth?" Tsuna was silent and was hesitant to tell Gokudera what happened yesterday when Reborn appeared and jumped on his stomach, "Tell him what happened yesterday after he took Chrome home!"

"But-!" before he could protest, Reborn took out a huge hammer with the word DEATH on it. Tsuna seemed to get the message as he cleared his throat as he scratched the back of his head, "It started after Gokudera-kun took Chrome home…"

_**Flashback**_:

Tsuna was walking back home as he walked by the Namimori Shrine, his head filled with the thoughts of becoming the next Mafia boss. 'I don't want power or insane wealth. I just want the small happiness in life…' His face scrunched he imagined dozens of scary burly men in business suits leering at him while handing out suspicious looking attaché cases and some shady characters who're holding guns and knives; "Aaaah! No way am I going to be a mafia boss!" he yelled on top his lungs, making the birds fly away from the branches they once perched.

"Why don't you run away?" a solemn voice asked.

"Huh?" Tsuna turned around to see Enma lying on the shrine's floor with a hand clamped down on a handkerchief, pressing it on his right eye while there were visible fresh wounds on his face, "I'm always thinking about running away too…". Tsuna's eyes widened and ran towards his side, his face filled with concern towards the quiet transferee, "Enma-kun! Those wounds- Were you bullied again?" Enma looked up with a blank expression on his face. He took a deep breath and suddenly spoke, "When humans have power, they use it rashly. The mafia, the school bullies… they're all like that"

"Hey… Are you alright?' Tsuna asked as he continued to walk closer to the injured boy. "What about you?" Tsuna stopped his advance and looked at him, "What?" Enma stared at him warily and repeated, "What about you? Don't you want to run too?" Tsuna didn't say anything as he tried to scrutinize what Enma told him. Enma grew tired and stood up and walked past Tsuna, "See you…" he whispered.

"Ah… uh..." Tsuna started as he tried to catch up but Enma's words resounded in his head, _' 'Why don't you run away?' Enma-kun hates mafias too… It's just as Enma-kun says…' _"If I hate it… I should run…" he contemplated, at that time, it sounded appealing. Why force yourself to do something you don't want, right? Before he delve on the thought any farther,

"I won't forgive you!"

In a flash, a hard little tennis ball bounced from Enma's head to Tsuna's then bounced on to the grassy lawn. Tsuna looked up to find where that blasted ball came from and his eyes zeroed in on Reborn wearing a tennis outfit while standing on top of the shrine's roof; "If you run away, I shall smash you with an ace!" Enma looked alarmed while Tsuna yelled, "Reborn! What-!"

"Geez," he sighed as he jumped down, shedding his costume while doing so, "When two idiots come together, they sure think up stupid things. You should think of the Ninth's feelings." He lectured sternly at Tsuna. Tsuna looked at Reborn and repeated, "The Ninth?" Enma also wore the same questioning expression that led Reborn to explain it further;

"For the sake of the ceremony, the Ninth has sent out heartfelt invitations to all the families connected to Vongola. No matter how small or weak they could be. He was very pleased to know that one of those families went as far as to transfer for the ceremony. He thought all of you could be good friends, considering that you're all around in the same age group." Reborn explained as he crossed his arms on his chest. Tsuna looked taken back, "Good… friends?" while Enma didn't utter a word.

"He also said that he expects the Vongola family to take good care of the Shimon family, since they're extremely weak" Reborn said neutrally. Tsuna's right eye twitched and grounded out, "Wait a second! You're making it sound like there's something bad going to happen!" Reborn's face stayed calm as he answered Tsuna's accusation, "Of course. There are some out there who aren't favorable about Vongola becoming powerful. I expect there will be mafia groups who will try to boycott the ceremony." His usual infant-like smile stayed on his face, "After all, the Ninth did write in his letter that he's caught wind that opposing groups are already on their way to Japan in order to interfere with the ceremony."

"WHAT? YOU NEVER TOLD ME THAT!" Tsuna screamed, his face is sweating and panic filled his veins. Before he could move, they heard a rustle around the shrine, not knowing there was a spear speeding towards them. "Huh?" Tsuna dumbly reacted while Reborn kicked Tsuna out of harm's way, "Get out of the way Tsuna!" he also kicked Enma to avoid any injury as the spear hit the shrine wall which made the wall tumble down.

"Ouch!" Tsuna yelped as he landed on his stomach while Enma heaved as he was also carrying Reborn's weight as he was flung to the ground. "EEEK! WHAT'S THIS?" Tsuna asked as he turned around and saw his school vest ripped at the bottom part. "Arrived already, have they? They've come to interfere with the ceremony." The arcobaleno said as he stood straight on Enma's stomach.

"Eh? So soon?"

He looked at where Reborn was looking and cringed at the sight; a real monstrous mammoth-ian creature with huge claws and horns; "He's… HUGE!" he shouted as he ran away from it while dodging it's attacks. He noticed the 'horns' were a bit strange, like it made of- "He has cloud flames?" The creature screeched and swatted a large him, completely destroying the shrine and Tsuna was no where to be seen. Reborn jumped to the nearest tree branch while carrying Enma with ease and observed the raging creature, "Looks like he's using cloud flames to magnify himself, but it looks like he's a hired assassin. Don't think of losing to him Tsuna, or else you won't last a week before the ceremony!" he called out.

The beast looked through the rubble to find Tsuna, only to have Enma looking at the opposite tree branch and see him standing upside down with his forehead and hands in flames and his face was way different from what he used to see; like he was a different Tsuna. He brought up a fist on his mouth and announced silently; "Here I go!"

The creature saw Tsuna on the corner of his eye and roared as he tried to stab him with the spear that was connected on his right arm. Tsuna focused his flames and used the X-Burner to melt the spear in half. He then flew past the startled beast who was appalled that his weapon melted, and he turned around to see cute little lion cub growling at him on the tree branch. Distracted, the beast didn't see Tsuna above him before, "Up here" the beast looked as so and as Tsuna proclaimed that "It's over…", something shone under Enma's shirt that caught Reborn's eye. Tsuna handchopped the creature on the right side of his neck, effectively knocking him out and sent him crashing to the trees.

Tsuna then jumped down and his face returned to normal and his voice was shaking, "Ah~ That surprised me!" Reborn jumped down from the branch and let go of Enma as he approached the now unconscious culprit, "This is the tattoo of the Pesca family. Looks like it was in 'Hyper Mode' thanks to an altered version of the dying bullet. They're not even worth our time" he assured as he walked next to Tsuna. Tsuna however, looked even more confused that ever "What do you mean an altered dying bullet? I didn't know there was such a thing!"

"It's new. You get the idea that things will be hectic before the ceremony right?"

"You've got to be kidding me! I'm definitely not taking part in the ceremony!" Tsuna yelled and pulled some of his hair, not noticing another person present on the scene; "You're actually pretty strong!" He turned around to see Enma looking at him while standing near the tree.

"Enma-kun!"

"You're flying" he pointed out,

"NO! IT WAS A MIRACLE! I COINCIDENTALLY BUMPED INTO A TREE AND FLEW BACK!" he explained while waving his hand in front. Reborn frowned at his pathetic lying and thought, '_So you bounced because you're a ball now_?' Enma didn't mind but rather centered his interest on Natsu; "Ah! Is this your cat Tsuna-kun? He wasn't here yesterday?"

Tsuna sweat dropped and laughed, "Ah! Hahaha, kinda" '_He's a lion though_' he added. Reborn continued to watch Enma petting the now purring Natsu with critical eyes '_What was that? I sensed something from Enma the second of the attack; I've never felt anything like it before…_'

_**End of Flashback**_

"WHAT? TENTH WAS ATTACKED BY ANOTHER MAFIA FAMILY?" Gokudera shouted, making people out of the room peek in to see what happened. Chrome closed the door under Reborn's instructions and locked it with a click. She turned around to see Gokudera's face flamed with anger and determination, "THERE IS NO TIME TO LOSE! CALL ALL THE VONGOLA GUARDIANS TOGETHER!" Reborn smirked, impressed with Gokudera's devotion, "Oho~ You're sure worked up!" Gokudera smirked upon hearing Reborn's remark and said, "Of course I am! I'm the Tenth's right hand man after all! Let's gather up the Shimon as well, it would be a waste not to use them!" Reborn smiled but Chrome frowned at him and peeped, "You're going to use them?"

"That's what I said, ain't it?"

"But… wouldn't it seem unfair for them?"

"The hell are you sympathizing for them anyway? They might as well make themselves useful-" he stopped short when he saw Chrome's frown deepened, 'Oh crap-!'

"Gokudera-kun! Don't talk like that!" Tsuna reprimanded suddenly, making Reborn watch the scene with keen interest; "I wasn't trying to implicate anything Tenth!" he turned to Chrome who was looking at her shoes while her grip on her bag was making her knuckles turn white. "Don't be so sensitive, I wasn't talking about you! …even though it fits the criteria- "

"Gokudera-kun, enough!" Tsuna yelled, his uncharacteristic tone rumbled on his words like a real mafia boss. Gokudera visibly shrunk while Chrome stared at Tsuna with a wide eye, "Bossu…" Tsuna blinked and reverted back to his old self, "I'm sorry for yelling Gokudera-kun! It's just that… you know…" Gokudera jumped back into his vigorous self and shook his head, "It's alright boss! Now… back to my plan… AH-!" he suddenly got distracted as he saw Enma walking through the hall, "Wait here!" he yelled as he opened the door with much power. He grabbed Enma by the shoulder and pulled him to their direction while Reborn asked Chrome, "You locked the door, didn't you?"

"Hai… I did…"

"He broke the door?" Tsuna exclaimed as he examined the broken lock, "Gokudera-kun is so extreme sometimes…" Gokudera returned with a confused Enma who was looking at them, "…what?" Gokudera puffed out his chest and pointed at him, "You call all Shimon members and tell them to meet as at Nammy's got it?"

"… Nammy's?"

"Yeah at Nammy's! Make sure everyone in your family's there!"

"… I don't know where that is…" Enma shrugged. Gokudera slapped his palm over his eyes and was about to yell at him when Tsuna interjected, "I'll just guide them later okay? Just wait for us downstairs alright Enma-kun?" he asked with a smile. Enma didn't say anything but nodded and went out with his gloomy atmosphere. "Damn he's gloomy," Gokudera alleged, "anyways, is that all Reborn-san?" Reborn shook his head and jumped at the desk nearest to Chrome told her to sit down. She did as she was told and Reborn told Tsuna to close the door and the windows, "But will get suffocating in here!" Tsuna complained but Reborn dismissed it and sat cross-legged across Chrome, "Now, about that voice in your head. It started after you ran after that Mukuro-look alike correct?"

"Yes"

"How did it happen? Was it like someone talking close to you? Was his voice really like Mukuro's?"

Chrome pursed her lip before answering, "At first… it really sounded like Mukuro-sama was calling me. But after a while, the voice is talking to me and then I keep having nightmares-"

"Nightmares? What kind of-" Tsuna interrupted but Reborn gestured her to continue,

"He vaguely looked like Mukuro-sama but he was more… sinister, like someone with darker ambitions…" Reborn looked thoughtful and began to retrace her steps, "What happened at the rooftop yesterday? Was that voice talking to you again?" She nodded and clenched her hands, "He kept calling me, telling me to… to do things… and if didn't obey, there's a sharp pain' her eye blurred as small tears welled up around it.

"What about Mukuro? Did he tell you something about it?

"Mu- Mukuro-sama stopped talking to me after I followed the shadow person. Even when my illusionary organs are present, sometimes I feel like it wasn't him doing this. I feel like I'm turned into a transposable plaything!" Tsuna made a move to comfort her but Reborn told him to stay put and continued to interrogate her, "And that is a pain like something is punching you?"

She shook her head and bit her lower lip, "It felt like… someone's piercing something sharp in my head, my body felt like it was crushed inside and out and I can't think clearly… And that person would laugh and… and…" Try as she might, she couldn't control her tears and just tried to wipe them off from her face with her sleeve. Reborn said nothing while Tsuna and Gokudera looked troubled, especially Gokudera.

'_She was suffering that much… and I-_

(_**Flashback**_) '_Let go!' _and_ 'If you go crazy again, I'm going to inject you with this!_'(_**End of Flashback voices**_)

-_I just let her get hurt …_'

He stayed silent and watched Tsuna hold her shoulders and gently rubbed a hand on her back while whispering comforting words to her. He wondered why it came so natural with some people; caring about other people. He's far from being a saint but he's no demon either, Tsuna succeeded at silencing her cries and offered an encouraging smile in which she returned as well. He looked away from this scene, not knowing why it should irk him this much. 'I feel safe with you', somehow the words echoed in his mind and he can't help but feel a little betrayed after seeing her seeking help from someone other than him, it somehow made him feel wanted or important.

'Selfish, egoistic bastard' his conscience reprimanded him.

Reborn stood up and kicked Tsuna away from Chrome, "Enough flirting, do that in your own time _after_ you became the Vongola Decimo. Right now, you have more pressing matters to attend to." Tsuna blushed and yelled that, "I'm not flirting with Chrome!" while Chrome sniffled and visibly more chipper than earlier. Reborn and Tsuna were the first to go out of the room while Chrome picked up her book and placed it in her bag next to the trident. Gokudera sighed and cleared his throat and said, "Wait!" making her look at him, "Um… yes?"

"Look about earlier…" he trailed off; apologizing to someone wasn't his strong point. She continued to look at him with a questioning gaze before she turned around to leave when he pulled her roughly by her bag, "I said wait damn it!" She took a step back as he scratched his head in an irritated manner, "What I said earlier… about using them. I really… wasn't talking about you! I mean- I know it's not right to talk like that but…"

"You talk like that because you weren't used by anyone else before…" Chrome concluded, albeit her words backfired on her when his eyes narrowed dangerously and rounded up on her, "Weren't used? I was used by that bastard Mukuro and so was Bianchi once so that he could take over jundaime's body, did he ever tell about that little escapade?" he asked. Her lower lip trembled; "Mukuro-sama has his reasons! Maybe he had a good reason to do that" she defended;

"And what about the people who gets injured because of that?" he tested, his patience wearing thin by the minute.

"He knows that everything will be alright if I just follow his orders, like Boss does when he-" that statement alone was enough to make Gokudera snap;

"Don't you dare put the Tenth in the same category as that backstabbing bastard! You act as if everything he tells you is sacred; you act like his personal cheerleader and kiss the very dirt he steps on. You wonder why people think you're pitiful and no one accepts you but it's because you don't accept the truth yourself!" she turned around to run but he blocked way and pushed her to the wall, "Listen to me so that it will get into that thick head of yours; you say that you don't mind him using you, but the truth is, you don't want to be under anyone else's bidding!"

"That's not true!"

"Face it Chrome! You're not scared of not being accepted, you're scared of being alone! Just admit it to yourself!"

"But I AM alone!" she yelled back, her hands flew up to cover her ears but he yanked them away and held them tight to her sides, "That's bullshit and you know it! Alone? Why the hell did you convince yourself that you are? What about Kyoko, Haru, Bianchi and I-pin? The Tenth, baseball freak, and grass head? Hell I would even say Hibari and Reborn-san! They are all trying to get closer to you but you just push them out or run away. I told you before; accept yourself first before you expect others to accept you! " She stilled and tears started to cascade from her eye, her form shook violently and her fists went limp as her knees bucked forward and Gokudera caught her before she could fall.

"… it hurts…" she said through her sobs, "I'm scared… it hurts to be alone…"

Sighing, he patted her head and rubbed her arms tenderly, "Yeah… I know…" They just sat on the floor until her crying subsided and leaned on him. And for the first time, he just let her lean on him as long as she wants. He stood up, carrying her with him, "Let's go get your face cleaned. The others will be waiting for us in the restaurant so let's get this over with." She nodded and walked next to him side by side and walked into the girls' bathroom to wash her face while he waited outside. She went out and looked refreshed and he mentally said 'She is a little adorable…' then tried to beat himself up by using a word like that as she had little droplets of water hanging on her hair, looking like little diamonds sparkling under the sun. Unbeknownst to him as why he did it, he ruffled her hair in an affectionate manner that made both of them blush within the contact.

He cleared his throat and turned around while a pink blush was turning darker by the second, "Well let's get to Nammy's! I gotta make sure everyone's there!" She nodded and followed him quietly and looked at his hand. She debated in her mind whether it was allowed or not, considering he had a temper tantrum earlier so she pushed the thought to the back of her mind, settling that walking by his side was already enough for her.

**At Nammy's**

"WHY ISN'T EVERYONE OF VONGOLA AND SHIMON HERE?"

* * *

A/N: Ok, that is seriously the longest chapter I have ever wrote and it took me 9 chapters to make Gokudera feel an attraction to Chrome. And NO I did NOT make 'Twilight' as reference to Chrome-chan's wet hair are like diamonds scene. I have no ill feelings towards the book or anyone who enjoys it but it's kinda irritating to see a heartwarming scene or song and some moron would go, "Ooooh it's like Twilight~ or it suits Edward and Bella" garbage! Well, I'm out for now! And don't forget to r and r people! I love every single one of you readers so please, spread the love!

And I would like to say that let's help support the victims of the earthquake and tsunami incident in Japan. For those who has relatives there, I hope that they're all safe since I have relatives there too. Bye for now and TC!


	11. Guardians as Bodyguards!

A/N: Hey guys. Yeah, yeah the chapter's here. R and R if it's not taking too much of your time and if not well, I still appreciate you :)

Thank you for continually reviewing:

**Marabou**: As always, thank you ever so much! I'll try my best this time, and don't worry, this will be the last of that horrible target reviews since it wasn't my idea in the first place. Memo to myself: never accept a challenge against a cousin ever again! Thank you for always sharing your thoughts and know how other writers feel XD Love you and TC always!

**masaari**: Arigatou! Let's just hope I won't make things messy in the future :)

**Silverbell1410**: Thank you thank you~ Don't worry though, I seemed to have seen a story of yours and I shall read it soon! Let's just hope that the internet connection here is normal again :(

**JustALuckyReviewe**r: Thank you for giving this a little bit of fighting chance :)

**Red Camilla**: Don't worry its still chapter 11! I shall update it every 3 days, a week at most. As long as I don't have anything major to do.

**lemonteaa**: Thanks a bunch for being the 56 reviewer! Don't fret; I'm not forcing you to review any longer. If you have anything to say, just PM :D

TheLuciferPerson: Thank you for that honest opinion though I would point out some things that trouble me. First, I was a bit aggravated that it would seem like I want readers to sympathize me but the one thing I hate more than liars and cheaters are people pitying me for anything since I'm not desperate and if you have read it, it was a challenge (the point of not continuing this was only up to _next Sunday_ which is when I usually update). Second, I never said anything about readers begging me to continue it. If you don't want to read the story any further, your choice. Third, from the college where I was taught, our professors always emphasized that feed backs are always crucial for a writer and its importance since there is always room for improvement and sometimes writing is a two-way communication which is the writer and the reader. Flaming is more of an immature form of criticism like "This sucks" or "You shouldn't write a story…ever" that's why I enforce more in contractual criticism rather than flaming because it's rude and really tactless. And lastly, I don't even know how to react when you wrote that it wouldn't matter if my story's been erased from because there are others like this and you might even write it better. I'm not stupid enough to say this is the best and I'm sure there are a lot of people who writes better than me but I actually take pride in this story since this is the very first story I ever wrote and you might not take this the right way but saying to one writer that you're better than them is ego-centric and not at all pleasant to read and, come on, I never complained to _you_. So if this is the last thing you'll ever read from me then bye because, as you say, _you write better than me _and this story might not be worth your time.

So, if you saw all that drama, yes, I was a little pissed, but don't worry dear readers, I won't mess this one up since I know the limits of being a bit of a bitch and I can't let that get into my work, and rejoice, I'm now free of that stupid challenge :D Well, where were we… ah yeah, onwards to chapter 11 as I finish this slurpee.

Disclaimer: Sorry, I don't own it, unless I'm Amano Akira in disguise but sadly, I'm not her :(

* * *

**All about Acceptance**

**\*\-5996-/*/**

**At Nammy's**

"WHY ISN'T EVERYONE OF VONGOLA AND SHIMON HERE?"

Gokudera shouted as he stood up from his chair in the booth. People stared at them, even the waitress who served them yesterday was also there and when she saw Chrome, she waved in a hyped manner which Chrome returned with a much calmer wave. "Gokudera-kun, not so loud!" Tsuna pleaded as he tried to pull him back to his seat. "Hibari-san hates crowds, and Lambo went out to play with I-pin" he explained while Gokudera gave a pouty huff. Koyo frowned and pointed out, "You're the one to complain, you're the ones who came late!" he accused as he pointed a finger between him and Chrome. He ignored him and said, "How come Shimon isn't complete too?"

"We tried to call out all our members too but Katou Julie is out and Shitt P. is busy meditating." Adelheid responded. Gokudera's eyes widened, "Wha- Meditating? Her?" he dug into his bag and took out his pen and notebook and began to scribble notes, "So she communicates with the depths of the earth around this time of day…" he muttered under his breath; Tsuna sweat dropped and asked, "You're still going on about that?" while Chrome took a peek at what he was writing only to see a page full of weird symbols. "By-by the way Gokudera-kun, didn't you have to say something to all of us?" Tsuna asked, making Gokudera snap out of his crypto zoology world and stand again, "Ah! Yes! –Ahem- Yesterday you were attacked by some mafia punks that want to interfere with our ceremony. There's no guarantee that it won't happen again" Silently, Tsuna the other Vongola members nodded while the Shimon family just sat there with blank expressions in their faces, "Get to the point!" Koyo said irritably. Gokudera gritted his teeth and announced, "That's why we need the Vongola and Shimon need to come together and protect the tenth, along with this area!"

Simultaneously, Tsuna's jaw dropped, Koyo's gaze hardened and yelled, "WHAT?" while Adelheid and the remaining others remained quiet. Gokudera took out a sketch of a roughly drawn map, and pointed specific locations that were encircled, "I discovered that both families' members' area of expertise are well-divided. So we should form teams between members that share areas of expertise, in order to protect the tenth!" He laid in down on the middle of the table in order for all of them to see, he looked towards Yamamoto, "Firstly, the sports freaks, Yamamoto Takeshi and Mizuno Kaoru", Yamamoto just nodded and he continued to the others, "In the third year's building, there's Hibari Kyoya, Suzuku Adelheid, Sasagawa Ryohei and Aoba Koyo. In the Namimori park, there's Lambo and-"

He looked at the chubby teen who replied, "My name's Ooyama Ranji." Gokudera took note and said, "Where was I- Oh yeah, Lambo will be with Ooyama Ranji and in other areas near Kokuyou, there's Shitt P. and Katou Julie-"

"Wait," Adelheid interrupted, "Shitt P. is not familiar with that place, why not send her? I'm sure she's more than capable of knowing that particular area," as she stared pointedly at Chrome who shivered under her cold gaze. "Chrome's going on edge with that pervert and I'm sure that he knows how to be with his fellow guardian right? So that leaves me and Chrome Dokuro to guard the tenth in the classroom. And lastly, though I doubt he'd be much of help, there's Kozato Enma."

Enma lowered his gaze and just remained hushed while Yamamoto smiled amusingly at Gokudera and placed his chin on his hand, "Huh, you thought this out pretty thoroughly" and Ryohei smirked, "You're pretty worked up about this, octopus-head!" Tsuna, however, was far from amused, he waved his hands on the air and stuttered, "No, no! Wait a second Gokudera-kun! You don't have to go that far!"

Koyo sighed as he stirred his coffee with his thin fingers and looked at them critically, "Honestly, in the end, this is all just a bunch of nonsense. Why do we, the guests, have to take part in this fool's paradise situation?" he asked haughtily as he crossed his arms on his chest. Gokudera glared at him while Ryohei fisted his hands and muttered, "You-"

"Families underneath the Vongola family should cooperate. That's common sense!" Gokudera growled out, slamming his hands on the table, making the cups shake and the saltshaker bounced off the table, Chrome caught it before it can hit the ground and placed it back only to fall again since Koyo mimicked Gokudera's action with the same level of shouting, "Whoever said we were beneath you? At least call us equals! You bunch of idiots!" Ryohei felt a vein popped on his temple and also stood up, "What did you say? Who're you calling an idiot, idiot!"

Tsuna panicked as he felt the sudden heat engulfing their little table and tried to say something to ease the tension, "Not good!" he turned towards Chrome who was currently seated between an angry storm guardian and in a cautious position where she might get pushed out of her seat accidentally while Yamamoto, Enma and Kaoru looked as calm as ever, making Tsuna think if they're affected by the spat of the members of their families. Adelheid, however, had enough and opened her mouth, "Desist Koyo!" her tone is hard, not like a person bullying someone but more like a dictator's likeness. Silence immediately fell upon them and while Gokudera and Ryohei were also silenced, Koyo looked like he wanted to say something but he just bit his lip and sat back to his seat. All eyes are now on the tall girl as she placed her hands on the table in a business-like manner, "I would like to talk the other members who aren't present. Please give us some time to think."

Gokudera frowned and nodded, "Ah, fine…" '_So she's the leader_' he thought as he tucked the information in his mind for further reference while Tsuna continued watching the woman with a slight curiosity in his eyes, '_Whoa, she silenced them so easily. It's pretty obvious she's the leader of Shimon…_'

"She's really something, that Suzuki Adelheid…" a voice next to him said, "Yeah…" he replied, he blinked for a couple of times before turning around and see Reborn sipping lemon iced tea with Leon on his hat with his usual smile on his face, "Why so surprised? I told you would be coming here."

"Reborn! Hey, are you sure it's okay? Gokudera-kun's involving other families with the fights!" he whispered to Reborn, hoping he would get the desired response but Reborn did the opposite, "Pretty interesting right? I'm all for it!" Tsuna's face looked as if he might cry at any moment and yelled, "Not you too!" The Shimon just silently looked at the Arcobaleno, in which he returned with a neutral expression. _'There's something about Shimon that's just not right. Maybe working with them might shed some light on it.'_

"Is that all? Can we go now?" Koyo yawned, as if the meting was boring him to death. Ryohei was about to pick a fight but Reborn stood up and turned to them, "Hmmm, you've all covered what was needed to be said here. We'll be waiting for your answer, c'mon Tsuna; you've got homework to do." Tsuna shivered as he remembered the brutal tutorial, Reborn's tutorial. One by one, they stood up and walked out to the door; the Vongola headed to their way individually while Shimon walked to their base as a group. Gokudera and Chrome walked side by side towards the apartment but he stopped a he tried to fish his wallet out of his bag, "Damn, too much paper- AHA!" he yelled in triumph as he pulled his wallet out of his bag but a couple sheets of paper flew from his bag, making him curse and ran after them, making Chrome chase after him as well and plucked the floating papers she could reach.

She looked at the papers but all she saw was a bunch of symbols like the ones he made earlier, she cocked her head in question and looked up to see his scowling face and his hair tied to a short pony tail, "Don't read other people's notes without permission!" he said as he swiped the paper from her hands. "I'm sorry, I was just curious…" she whispered as she blushed at her embarrassment. Gokudera, getting used to her actions just stuffed it back into his bag and counted the money in his wallet, "Dang, just have enough for tomorrow. Hey, you got some cash?" She shook her head but consoled when he frowned, "I can get my advance!"

"Ad…vance?" he asked, "You have a job?" She nodded and he smacked his palm to his face, "Well duh! How were you getting money if you weren't working? Geez my brain's slow today!" he mumble to himself and turned to her, "Well, lead the way!"

A couple of blocks away from his apartment, they arrived at the busy Namimori business district. Usually people would stare at them but everyone seemed to know Chrome here since a couple of women who're selling fishes and other meats waved at her and she waved back. They took another turn to have Chrome stop in front of a flower shop that says "Ueda's Flower Shop Emporium". The little bell on the door chimed to announce their entrance and a head of a teenage boy suddenly popped out of the bouquet of roses with a happy look on his face.

"Ah Chrome-chan! Doesn't your shift start 'til later tonight?" he asked as he stood up. He was a tall guy, as tall as Ryohei but lankier and he wore glasses and an apron. He smiled at her but his smile faltered a little when he saw Gokudera, "Oh, a friend of yours?" she didn't answer so Gokudera replied for her, "Yeah, what of it?" The teenager raised his hands in defense and smiled, "Hey, I was just trying to be friendly! Now, what's the purpose of the visit?" Chrome fidgeted and tugged her skirt, annoying Gokudera so he elbowed her gently and cocked his head towards the door. She cleared her throat, "Ano, Katsuo-san…"

"Hm? What is it?" Katsuo asked, curious about what she wanted to say.

"Is Ueda-san here?"

Gokudera had a sudden urge to smack his palm on his face again, was that all she wanted to say? Katsuo smiled and called out behind him, "Obaa-san! Chrome's here to see you!" The back door opened and Gokudera almost jumped when he thought he saw a very small old woman who is seriously more frightening than the sight of his sister's cooking. She was small, barely reaching his midsection and her hair is clamped in a tight bun and she's carrying a very large stick. 'She's no regular old lady, she looks more like a witch!' he said in his mind. Chrome bowed at her and placed her hands in front of her, "Good afternoon Ueda-san! I'm so sorry for coming so early but you see-" Ueda didn't appear to be listening and just stared at the visitor who just stared right back at her with his usual scowling face The old woman's large eyes stared right through Gokudera and he visibly stiffened as Ueda-san walked towards him then-

SMACK!

"OUCH!" he yelled as the woman pelted him on the knee with her very very thick stick, "What the hell was that for?" he hissed as he clutched his throbbing appendage and knelt down to the floor.

"Gokudera-san!"

"Grandma! Why did you do that to a guest?"

Ueda huffed and looked at Gokudera who she now towered over, "What a very impolite young man! You didn't even introduce yourself to me, the owner of this facility and excusing yourself for intruding my property!" she quipped as Gokudera glared at her with fierce dislike. Chrome tried to help him stand but he just held up a hand, telling her that he can manage on his own. Katsuo sighed and looked at his grandmother with a disapproved expression, "Grandma, that wasn't very polite!" She turned to her grandson and also gave him his own bruise on the head, "Ahou! To get respect one must first show it! Youngsters these days! Now, Chrome-" Chrome stiffened as Ueda addressed her, "What is your business? And who is that impertinent brute?"

'_I'll show you an impertinent brute you old hag_!' he seethed in his mind as he leaned on the wall with a bruised knee while Chrome explained to the old woman about the reason why she needed the advance. Ueda held up a wrinkly hand, prompting her to stop and nodded, "I understand why you need it Chrome. You wouldn't try to do this if it wasn't so necessary. And you boy-" Gokudera threw a dirty look at her which she reciprocated with a leer, "Make sure this one actually eats real food. I don't want a worker who looks as if she's going to faint from lack of food any minute!" Chrome blushed at this while Gokudera just shrugged, "Yeah yeah" Ueda's eyes narrowed at his answer but Katsuo interjected and handed Chrome a thick brown envelope. Ueda prodded Gokudera with a stick in which irritated him further than ever before, "Hey quit it! I don't care if you're an old woman, you'll get the taste of my bombs!" Chrome's eye widened at this but Ueda wasn't fazed by this,

"Old woman you say? I'm a young and vigorous 87-year old lady!"

Katsuo held on to his grandmother while Chrome tried her best to push Gokudera out of the store while he continued bellowing insults at Ueda, making people on the streets watch the two of them. When he finally calmed down, they headed towards the supermarket with Chrome's additional pay at hand. He and Chrome split the groceries; he was in charge of the meat and fish while she's the one in charge with the vegetables. They met back at the dairy aisle with their basket heavily laden with food that will last them for almost a month. They were about to line up to the counter when Chrome stopped in front of the candy section and picked up a package of strawberry bubble gum. She frowned at it and wondered how the other Kokuyou Gang members are faring. She placed the candy back to the shelf as Gokudera called to her.

"Damn, the prices today are too high! If the rent raises too- well fuck it." He said as he lit a stick of cigarette and placed it in his mouth as he carried a bag of groceries. Twilight was upon them and most of the people they now meet in the streets are high school students and children going home with their parents at the park. Gokudera saw Chrome looking at a swing at the corner of his eye, as if she's trying to remember something…

"Hey, what's wrong?"

Chrome was silent for a few seconds, "I wonder… how it feels to have someone push you on the swing…" Gokudera looked at her like she's talking gibberish and asked, "What, you never played on the swing with someone before?" She shook her head and hung it low, "I wasn't very… open when I was young. My mother never had the time for me so I was always alone." Gokudera cocked a brow and wondered how it got from walking home became tête-à-tête moment with her in front of an empty swing. He exhaled the smoke and stomped the cigarette on the ground and walked towards a seat. He gestured her to sit down and placed the groceries near his feet, "Just one round and that's it." She meekly smiled and her heart leapt as he pushed her on her back, making her sway forward and felt the gentle caress of the breeze on her face. And all too soon, she came back down and Gokudera held to the chain and she jumped down from the suspended chair and gazed at her shoes, "Thank you…"

"It was just a push. Any idiot can push anyone you know"

"No, back at the shop, you called me your friend." She reminded him. He looked back at the events and a vein popped out when he remembered Ueda's face but he remembered the little dialog, "Well, like I told you. You aren't alone, we've gotta stick together to protect the tenth, right?" She nodded and carried the groceries with her hands. They were about to turn to the next curb when a prickly feeling on her neck made her twitch, feeling it was nothing, she just let it slide.

**Shimon Base**

"The we shall cooperate to protect the Vongola family. However, in our own way" Adelheid decided as they all sat around a circular wooden table, all except Kaoru and Julie who was busy lounging about on the couch. "It sounds good" Ranji nodded, " –_sigh_- Fine, if we must" Koyo said as he leaned on his chair and fixed his glasses. Kaoru remained quiet but Julie yawned and said, "I'll pass this one. I'm not feeling too well~" he hummed. Koyo stood up and anger rushed through his veins, "You've been doing nothing all day long! All you ever do is gamble and chase girls!" Julie smirked smugly at him and retorted, "At least I'm not the one getting red marks on every test~"

"You little-"

"Stop it!" Ranji said, hoping to simmer down the hot headed Koyo.

Adelheid just watched the scene and turned to Enma, "Enma, what do you think?" Enma took a drink from his juice can and said, "I really don't care…" Ranji frowned as he looked closely at Enma's face, "You've got more cuts. Want me to go home with you?" Enma rejected his offer but it sprouted endless jeering from Julie and Koyo;

"Pathetic. Ever heard of winning every once in a while?"

"You're just weak! You get bullied because you don't get your act together!"

"By the way, has everybody been taking good care of _that_?" Adleheid asked, earning a couple of positive responses except from Julie who just mumbled a "Duh!" She turned to Enma again and prompted him, "Enma, show it to me…" Enma unbuttoned his blazer and tugged on a thin steel chain and revealed a ring. "That is… the proof that you've inherited. As the boss of the Shimon family." As the other family members gazed on the ring, Julie yawned again and started to daydream, _'Yeah yeah he inherited the ring. But soon, all my plans will be pedaling forward faster than Vongola will know what hit them. Of course, I need that cute lil' Chrome~'_

_

* * *

A/N: _That's it for now! Hope you've liked it as much as I lol'ed when I was writing about Ueda-san~ Comments, question_s,_suggestions and constructive criticism are welcomed and will be duly noted. TC and have a good day! 3 Pray for Japan! 3 _  
_


	12. Ryohei and Koyo: I'm better than you!

A/N: Minna-san! Gomen I wasn't able to update this, for those who had received my pm, you all know what happened but I'd like to give a special shout out to **solidaritycloud** for helping me get through the error (Without her, this chapter would be impossible to be seen in )! A special thanks also to **Marabou**, **Silverbell1410** and **lemonteaa.**

To those who have reviewed, a special thanks as usual:

**Silverbell1410**: hahaha, you're previous review made me a tad nervous. Me? A senpai? I hope I can be a good one :) But really, thanks for appreciating this fic and I'll see to it that it will exceed to your expectations!

**mAsaaRi'N'hElL**: wow, new pen name! :D ehehehe thanks for being a loyal fan, and if you ever wonder about Ueda-san, she's kinda like my mom and grandma mixed together :) Thank you thank you thank you!

**Last Melody**: Thank you for leaving a review. Short and sweet; I love it!

**liondancer17**: good to hear from ya :D Mukuro will be featured on the next chappie so I hope no Daemon fans are present. But if there are, it's all good! xD

Note: I can't make a new story since I've been getting these seriously annoying mf-ing errors! So no new Katekyo story for now until the error's been fixed :( And it's a real shame since I've made (2) 2796 stories and (4) 5996 stories. Well, if anyone's interested in reading them, just send me your e-mails and I'll send them to you! Love you guys and don't forget; R and R~!

If you guys know how to fix it or suggest on what to do, please help me :)

Disclaimer: I don't own KHR!

* * *

**All about Acceptance**

**\*\-5996-/*/**

It was Saturday morning at Namimori.

Tsuna yawned loudly with Natsu who was dosing next to him. He stretched, "Aaaaahgh! It's finally the weekend! No more school!" Natsu mewled in agreement as Tsuna sat up and scratched his stomach, 'With all the fuss about the ceremony and the transfer students, this week had been hectic I thought I was gonna die!' His back popped, making him frown and went in the bathroom. After doing his morning routine, he climbed down while continually mused on the events that happened, 'I was attacked, Enma-kun and the others are another mafia family, the inheritance ceremony. I'll just use the weekend to come up with the plan to escape the ceremony…' his stomach grumbled as he smelled the familiar scent of his mother's cooking.

Nana's head poked out of the kitchen with a mild surprised look on her face, "Oh Tsu-kun! It's unusual for you to be up this early!" Tsuna just groaned as he maneuvered automatically in the kitchen and blinked twice, then thrice before pinching himself to convince himself that he's still dreaming. Unfortunately, it's not. There, sitting on their dining room were the Shimon family, eating breakfast like it's an everyday routine. His mouth gaped open and his eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets, "W-Why?" Adelheid was the only one who looked at him and nodded, "Sorry to bothering you, Sawada Tsunayoshi-kun" He just stood there, frozen like a statue while Nana's practically sparkling with happiness as she clapped her hands, "There's more so don't hesitate to ask!" Promptly, Koyo lifted his bowl of rice with a sly grin, "Then I think I will ask for more of your delicious, beautiful mother!" with this said, Nana giggled girlishly as she handed his refilled bowl,

"That's so flattering, for that; I'll give you an extra large helping! Eat up everyone, don't be shy!"

Tsuna wasn't so sure if he was more surprise with his mother allowing strangers in the house and letting them eat or the part where she's completely taken by just a simple compliment. He regained his bearings and turned to the Shimon, "What's with all this? What's going on?" Adelheid wiped her mouth with a napkin before answering him, "This is our answer regarding the suggestion that we will protect you along with your guardians. Each of us will take turns staying in your house in order to protect you from danger."

"Stay? As in you're going to sleep here?"

"Mama's happy that you've been making friends with the transfer students Tsu-kun! I'm all for them staying here~!" Nana said as she passed him his own plate, 'But you didn't let Chrome stay here…' he grumbled mentally as he took his pair of chopsticks from the cupboard and sat down. He took a seat between Enma and Ranji, who was playing with Lambo. The curious lightning guardian actually poked a chopstick in his nostril and laughed when he wasn't hit, "Wahahaha, I've taken a liking to you! You may work under Lambo-san!" he announced as he stood straight on Ranji's belly. Ranji just smiled and said thanks, much to Tsuna's surprise. Adelheid stood up, along with the others and said, "The rest of us must go now. The one who will be in charge here now is in the 3-a class, which is Aoba Koyo", the said person stood up and said, "Let's make this a successful ceremony, Sawada-kun!" his mouth was full of rice, thus making them fly everywhere and noticeably more polite than before. Tsuna just nodded and took his first mouthful of rice as Reborn, Bianchi and Futa stood by the doorway. Reborn leaned on the wall while watching the scene, _'Strange. They actually forwarded themselves to us, and I can't say we can trust them a 100%. However, this may come as an opportunity to study them a bit closer individually.' _

Things were pretty much uneventful in Gokudera's apartment. Chrome blew her bangs from her line of vision as she tried to sew her torn uniform. It was the same uniform she wore when she tried to attack the boss. There was a very long cut on the midsection area and she knows it will cost more than a hundred yen to buy another uniform so she just opted to fix it herself. Gokudera came out wearing a black hoodie and silver chains hanging on his faded jeans. She stood up and placed the uniform along with the tray of needles and strings on the desk; "I'll drop you off in the tenth's house. Suzuki Adelheid sent me a message that they approved with my plan." She took her bag from the floor and just nodded, usually his plans are foolproof anyway;

"Where will you go?"

"I'll guard around the perimeter in case they missed one"

"Oh" _'He's like a natural bodyguard'_

They walked to Tsuna's house, meeting Adelheid along the way; she told them that the other members of Shimon are in his house, all except for Julie who's in the gambling district and Shitt P. who's meditating by the warehouses. Gokudera's eyes twinkled at the information, more specifically; about Shitt P.'s whereabouts. This didn't go unnoticed by the two girls; Adelheid's curious and so was Chrome; she never saw him so taken with anything with anything except about the Tenth; truth to be told, she doesn't know anything about him at all. After a few brief minutes of reporting with the going-ons in Tsuna's house, they continued on their own destinations. Gokudera stopped by the main gate as Chrome nervously approached Tsuna and Reborn while Lambo's playing with his new 'underling', he waved at Tsuna and called out, "Tenth, she'll stay with you while I guard the perimeter!" Tsuna sweat dropped while Chrome just waved a small good bye, in which he returned with a nonchalant wave.

"Sorry for making you come here too Chrome. It's too much too crowded here; with all the Shimon and all"

She shook her head and looked at the ground, "Iie, it's my duty to guard you boss." Reborn nodded in approval and jumped at her shoulder, "Now then, shall we discuss your dreams?" Before she could respond, Ryohei appeared with his hair all messed up and he was sweating. He took a couple of deep breaths before looking around, "Where's Aoba Koyo?" Chrome gazed questioningly while Tsuna greeted the boxer, "What's wrong, Sasagawa-oniichan?"

"Ah, Sawada. What's wrong you ask? This is!" He yelled as he thrusted a hand in his right pocket and retrieved a very crumpled paper with a chicken scratch of a handwriting on it. He tried to flatten it out properly but it was so wrinkly that it was impossible to read a single kanji on it. "It was written that; 'A guy like you can't possibly protect Sawada. So I'll do it on my own!' It was obvious that guy wrote this challenge!" He looked around and began to wander around the yard while yelling out Koyo's name, "OI! Get out here you scaredy-cat! Are you hiding with your tail between your legs?" In an instant, the sliding doors opened to reveal the much agitated Koyo whose face was darkened with anger; "Who are you calling a scaredy-cat? Aoba Koyo will never run nor hide in ay season or time! Bring it!"

"There you are! What's with the letter? I'm the one who will guard Sawada!"

"Fool, then we'll have a guarding battle!"

"That's what I came here for!"

Tsuna's eyes widened and confusion is plastered on his face, "Wait… they're fighting on whoever wants to guard me?"

_Tweet tweet tweet_

It's already been three hours and there were no signs of any threat. Enma, Tsuna and Chrome sat on the porch while Koyo and Ryohei stood defiantly on their ground, neither one willing to give in. Chrome stifled a yawn while Enma played with Natsu's paw. Tsuna sighs as he felt the breeze caressing his face gently, feeling the seconds of his life ticking by.

'Nn…'

"Erg"

The two suddenly started to groan and bended their legs, having to stand three hours nonstop made their feet sleep. Koyo tsk-ed out of irritation; "There's nothing to compete with! Let's end this nonsense!" as prepared himself in a fighting stance, with Ryohei mirroring his move, "Yeah, we'll let our fists decide!" The moved to take the first step and a feminine voice flowed through, "Onii-chan!" Ryohei suddenly stopped his attack and Tsuna stiffened in his seat as Kyoko appeared in front of them, "Onii-chan, you promised not to fight!" she scolded and placed her hands on her hips. Nana came out with a laundry basket in hand, "Don't worry Kyoko-chan, they're both very nice boys!" she smiled while Tsuna mentally grumbled, '_You didn't see and hear what happened earlier mom…'_ Enma and Chrome just looked at Ryohei who was trying to convince Kyoko he wasn't fighting while Koyo started sucking up to Nana, "Oh no dear mother, we were just wondering on how we could compete with one another other than fighting!" Nana smiled and clapped her hands, "Oh that's very nice! Well since you're both in third years; why not have a study competition?" As soon as the word 'study' left her mouth, Koyo fell down like something pushed him while Ryohei slid down like he lost his vitality. Kyoko and Nana just grinned absent-mindly at the two while Tsuna gaped at their overreacted reactions, especially to Koyo, _'But he looks so smart with those glasses!'_

Ryohei chuckled at Koyo despite his face beaded with cold sweat, "What's the matter Aoba? You don't look so good, you afraid you'll lose?" Koyo scoffed and sneered back, "Me? You're the one who's sweating Niagara Falls! You sure talk big when you're scared!" The two began snipping insults again while Reborn just stood there deep in thought, 'A challenge, huh? This is an opportunity to see Aoba Koyo's strength.' Reborn cleared his throat and approached the two guardians, "Then I have the perfect challenge for both of you!" strangely; it was Tsuna who felt the shivers in his spine.

"Well, with that all said; I'm going to be the judge of this competition! The one who solves the problems in these plates first is the winner. And these are just super easy problems." Reborn announced as he held out two ceramic plates with questions listed to five. He jumped on the middle of the table while the crowd divided into who they're cheering for; naturally Tsuna, Kyoko, Bianchi, Futa and Chrome will cheer for Ryohei while Shimon will cheer for Koyo… except for Nana also cheering with the Shimon, Lambo… he's just watching the show;

"Good luck brother!"

"Leave it to me, to the extreme!"

"Break a leg Aoba-kun!"

"In the end, it shall be I who is victorious!"

"Ready? Get set… Start!"

With a blow of Reborn's whistle, Ryohei and Koyo snatched their plates and began to read the problems, "Right then, if it's so super easy-"

"- in the end, I'll solve this instantly!" Koyo finished.

They stared at the problems for five seconds before slamming their heads on the desk with the same thought, 'I don't get this at all!' Kyoko looked at Ryohei worriedly while Tsuna and the Chrome just looked surprise at their reactions. "They… don't understand the problem?" he asked but Nana shook her head, "No no Tsu-kun! It's like playing chess; it takes a long time for a player to think his move or strategy!" Koyo and Ryohei felt their souls leaving their body while saying "No ma'am, we don't even know what to think. At all" Reborn jumped from the table and looked at both of them, "The rest of us will leave the room so that you can answer them in peace. We'll be back before the hour's up. If you cheat, you'll immediately be disqualified." The two still haven't said anything as one by one; their audiences left the room except for Reborn who looked at them before closing the door,

"However, should the plates break; I'll consider it my mistake for not making a much sturdier plate and we'll just have to postpone the competition to come up with another one. " Koyo and Ryohei both jolted from their catatonic state like Frankenstein's awakening, "See ya" Reborn said as he closed the door behind him, neither one saw his smirk.

The grouped gather around the living room while waiting for the two to finish; Enma sipped his tea while Kyoko chatted with Chrome, "Ah, I almost forgot! Chrome-chan we should really visit you're relative's house, Haru-chan and I would love to meet your family!" Tsuna spat out his tea, making a little rainbow and wiped his mouth with his sleeve, "E-eh? You're going to visit Chrome's house?" Kyoko nodded and clapped her hands enthusiastically, "We could go there tomorrow if it's okay with you!" Words were caught on her throat as Chrome looked Tsuna for help. Tsuna also tripped with his words with 'Ummm's, 'Err's and 'You see' before Bianchi said, "Oh, Chrome's not with her aunt's anymore since she's moving to another country." Kyoko frowned and looked at Chrome, "So… does this mean you're back at Kokuyo Land again?" Chrome opened her mouth, not really knowing if she should lie or not when Reborn answered for her, "She's staying at a friend's house. Their residence is in a rural are so people tend to get lost there." Tsuna prayed to Kami that she would just buy that excuse and let it slide, and Kami-sama did what he had asked for, for the first time in his life as it would seem.

A sudden tremor erupted from the upper floor, making the lights shake and their teas jumping from their cups. Everyone looked up, "Wha-What's happening up there?" Tsuna yelped, concerned for the fate of his bedroom while Reborn just leaned on his table and watched the monitor that was connected with the cameras hidden in the room, "They're getting serious about the problem solving." _'Those plates are made with extra-ceramic. Even more than Ryohei, I want to see what Aoba Koyo does with it.' _

Tsuna's eyes widen with suspicion as Reborn maintains a cool and calm façade. _'He's got something up his sleeve'_ he deduced but he shifted his sights on Enma who's blissfully playing with Natsu, a smile imprinted on his face; "You look like you're sure enjoying this, Enma-kun" Enma nodded and continued to scratch Natsu's chin, "Yeah" Suddenly, more shouts came from the room directly above them. It was incoherent but they sure do sound mad though. The minutes flew but all they heard was shouting and noises which sounds distinctly like punching. Tsuna grew tired of all the waiting and turned to his tutor, "Reborn, the hour's almost up and they're still making those noises." Reborn frowned as he tapped the monitor off, "Hmmm, it didn't work, maybe the hurdle was too high for them after all."

"What hur-"

**BOOM**

"An explosion?"

Kyoko's eyes widened and her hands flew to her mouth, "Onii-chan!" She and the others dashed up to his room and saw the two teens sitting on the ruin that was formerly known as Tsuna's bedroom. Ryohei gasped for a while before offering a smirk at Koyo, "That wasn't too bad of you!" Koyo drank in a couple of breaths before answering him, "Heh, I'll give you a tiny bit of credit for that!" They looked at them and saw the plates on Koyo's hands; smashed. Reborn smiled a bit before saying, "It's impossible to go on with the competition. We'll have to postpone it." With that said; Koyo and Ryohei jumped up and bumped each other's forearm. However, they realized what they were doing and jumped away from each other.

"Don't touch me Koyo! I might catch your stupidity!"

"You're the one to talk! I'll be infected with your idiocy!"

"My room's a disaster! What the heck did you guys do?" Tsuna yelled as he yanked his hair from his head. Reborn watched silently as Koyo walked towards the Shimon while insulting Ryohei, _'Ryohei's Maximum Canon is amazing, but the fact that Aoba Koyo was able to receive that attack unscathed… Shimon might be actually more than what they're leading on.' _Tsuna just began to cry on how he's going to clean it up as the guests climbed down to the leaving room, leaving him with his destroyed room.

* * *

Chrome was about to leave when Kyoko held a hand on her shoulder, "Chrome-chan, I found this in my room yesterday. I'm sure you're going to like it." She read the title and thanked Kyoko wholeheartedly; "It's what friends do!" Kyoko replied as she offered her a sweet smile. Chrome smiled back and walked towards the apartment, eager to start reading it.

"Chrome"

She stopped walking; it wasn't that voice that haunts her. It was a voice that made her feel safe before. It wasn't rough, or threatening, or sinister. It was gentle, like a voice lolling her to sleep every time she gets a nightmare. A voice she hadn't heard for a long time; "Mukuro-sama?"

"Yes, Chrome. I have something to tell you."

She ran towards the nearest ally and sat down to her knees and began to concentrate, "Mukuro-sama, what happened? Where we-"

"Chrome, I'm sorry I've made you worry but I have to warn you. There's someone else trying to control your body and I think it's someone from S-"

A thrill of pain shot from her head and made her double over as the pain grew and then… nothing. She opened her eye and blinked her face cold and her feet were shaking. "Mukuro-sama?" she tried contacting him again but only silence greeted her. She pulled her bag close to her and took out the trident. She pressed her forehead on the cold metal surface, fruitlessly trying to contact him. And still, nothing. She took a deep breath and hugged the trident, wishing that the world's twisted views of humor would just stop.

For now, she should try and act like nothing's wrong. The question is; how long can she keep it up?

* * *

Gokudera sighed as he closed the door. It was a productive day to say the least, he got a bit of information he wanted but he opted he should collect more just in case something might pop out. Chrome stood up from the couch, greeted him and told him that dinner's ready. He walked past her and saw the title of a book she was reading, "_Italian for Beginners_?" Chrome hugged the book closer and nodded, "Yes, I'm trying to learn Italian."

"What for?"

"Um... For my dream"

"Your dream?"

"Hai, my dream is to one day converse with Mukuro-sama in Italian. If I can talk to him in fluent Italian, maybe I can be more useful and-"

He looked skeptically at her. Sure he can say it was a dumb dream, rather a very superficial dream. But the way her eye lit up and her small smile on her face when she said it, it felt like he was confided on a secret and he didn't even knew what made her say it so easily to him. More than that really; it's like they're getting closer with each passing day. It felt weird for him. He never revealed his thoughts and feelings to anyone but the Tenth. Bianchi's surely out of the question; it was hard enough to see her everyday with their strained sibling relationship. Yamamoto and Ryohei; sure they annoy him with their antics but they're close... in a comrade/fellow guardian way, he suppose. Hibari- no comment and Lambo, don't even start.

Bit by bit, she began getting closer to him than with anyone he had seen before, other than the girls of course. At first he thought she was just being polite, but then she suddenly smiles whenever he walks through the door, like he amuses her. Her blushes were now a frequent sight on her face whenever he sits or stands close to her, like the time their hands brushed when they tried to open the door at the same time.

"Sasagawa-san and Koyo-san had a competition." she started, making him break away from his thoughts and look at her with a questioning look, "Ha? What competition?" Chrome started telling him about the earlier events, he shook his head and groaned as she described how they almost destroyed the house and how Tsuna reacted when he saw his bedroom now windowless. He hummed for a bit and took out a stick from his pocket and lit them as he walked to the window to open it. She placed the book down on the sofa as she stared at his back, the swirling form of the smoke danced with the evening breeze.

"Why do you smoke?"

"What made you ask?"

A question answered with another question.

She shifted her weight on one foot as she replied, "I was just curious, I guess." and that was it. He turned to look at her, and even though she won't admit it out loud; he looked smoking hot (no pun intended) while smoking. His eyes were a bit glazed as he rose a brow at her and a sudden gust of wind exposed a small part of his chest; making her face warm and her heart jumped from her chest. She shook her head and collected her book, "I should go to sleep now!" although, she entered the bathroom. She came out, he head bowed down with embarrassment as she trudged slowly towards her room, "Um, that was the bathroom." He rolled his eyes and answered, "Yeah, I know" and turned his back on her as she closed the door.

_Knock Knock_

Gokudera opened the door to see Katou Julie, holding a bouquet of flowers. The confusion on Julie's face was reciprocated with Gokudera's suspicious glare, "What the hell are you doing here?" he asked, Julie smiled cynically and tipped his hat, "Well~ I was about to give this to Chrome-chan. But it seems I got the wrong room. Is she in another floor?" Gokudera gritted his teeth, "No, but I'm sure she'll reject that." Julie dropped the fake smile and glared at the smoking teen, "And what makes you so sure?"

"This; hey Chrome!" he called, making Julie cast a glare at his direction when his assumption was proved to be correct; Chrome poked her head out of the room and her eye widened when she saw the guest with flowers in his hand, "What is going on?"

* * *

A/N: That's that. Please R and R, if you have questions, suggestions, anything just leave me quick pm or review and it will be duly noted. See you next Wednesday and TC! 3 Pray for everyone 3


	13. Yamamoto and Kaoru: A day with baseball

A/N: I know you've all been waiting for months with this and I wanna apologize with the delay. There are a lot of things that had happened and I couldn't concentrate with the story at that time.

**Marabou**: Thank you for always reviewing this story. Your reviews always brighten up my day!

**kannibal**: I'll try to work out the cute parts, you can suggest any situations and I'll work it into the story

**liondancer17**: Yeah, sorry for the cliffies. I wasn't anticipating any delay but… yeah

**solitarycloud**: Thanks again!

**HelenMayson**: Yes, she is very adorable. I'll try a little love triangle to the mix~

**Silverbell1410**: Awww, that's the nicest thing anyone had said!

**fujingodofwind**: Even I wanna ran away from him! Lols!

**sarah14drew**: Thanks for reading this piece, it's alright. I figured when you first reviewed you haven't read it yet but it's all good!

**MentholCandy**: Yeah but who will be her knight in shining armour?

**Lmeiije**: Thank you so much for giving a chance to 5996! X3

I'll try to update as soon as I can. I PROMISE I won't disappoint any one of you dear readers.

Disclaimer: KHR! Is not mine

* * *

**All about Acceptance**

**\*\-5996-/*/**

How could this happen?

Instead of doing homework and just sleep, she's sandwiched by the sofa's armrest and the Shimon's unwanted advances. "Aww, let's get acquainted! Don't you want to be closer?" he asked, making a puppy face while pouting; making Gokudera fake a gagging gesture as Chrome just bluntly said, "No thank you." Gokudera would have laughed at the look on Julie's face but found himself irritated as Julie plucked a flower from the bouquet and placed it behind her ear, making her jump from physical contact. Julie misread Chrome's blush and smiled widely, "You're just so darn cute! Why are you living with this guy anyway? You can live with me~" Her face paled and looked at Gokudera who continued to smoke,

"To where and whom she lives with is none of your business, it's the Vongola's. I heard you didn't even make an appearance in your meeting with your family in the Tenth's house." Julie glared deeply toward him but then plastered a fake grin, "I think it's just a waste of time. Maybe I'll come next time if Chrome agrees to go on a date with me" Chrome tried not to sound rude as she flat out answered, "No."

His mouth formed into a thin line then stood up, "If that's how you feel..." at first, she thought he got the message but then, he straightened his fedora and spiffed up his coat, "Then I'll just make you fall in love with me~" he said as he winked at her.

Gokudera rolled his eyes and eyed at the intruding Shimon, "Do you have anything else to say or do while you waste our time?"

Julie glared at him and straightened his coat while he straightened his hat with a huff,

"Good night. Oh, by the way, Kaoru will be guarding your boss tomorrow" he closed the door with a small slam. She felt the rose's soft petals with her fingertips while Gokudera took out his book and wrote down the information, "So it will be Yamamoto and Mizuno Kaoru. Hmm, maybe the next day, I'll be able to- will you stop that?" he shouted as she kept playing with the flower. She immediately withdrew her hand from the hair ornament as he glared at the seemingly offending flower. He raked a hand through his hair and places his stick on the ashtray; "We gotta get up early so we can meet up with them. You wake up early, right?" She nodded and with that, he closed his notebook and threw it on the desk. She stood up and started to walk to the bedroom when Gokudera called back at her,

"Do you plan to wear that when you go to sleep?"

"What?"

He pointed on the side of his head and made her realize she still had the rose behind her ear. She plucked the flower and just placed it on the coffee table, bid him a goodnight then disappeared behind the door. He sighed as he pressed down the cigarette butt on the ashtray. He didn't know why or what compelled him to do it, but he snatched the flower from the table and crumpled it, leaving the rose bruised and wrinkled beyond recognition, '_Easy there_' he told himself, '_You're getting angry over nothing._' He went over to the trash bin and threw it in.

Chrome languidly sat on the futon with the events earlier replayed in her mind. She didn't know why; but she suddenly wished that Gokudera could have helped her a little better, maybe even try to defend her- _whoa_, where did that come from? She shook her head that she almost got whiplash and laid her head on the pillow, her vision spinning from shaking it. Sleep finally took over her senses and within seconds, she was dreaming.

* * *

_**Dream sequence**_

Chrome walked alone in the meadow. Her hair still in its pineapple-styled arrangement and she was still wearing her nightgown. This dream was a nice refreshing one compared to her current patterns of darkness and foreboding. Wildflowers danced with the breeze that passed through her form and faint sounds of birds chirping from nearby trees that surrounded the greenery. She sat in the middle of the meadow and took a deep breath as a song flowed from her mouth:

_yume wa tobitatsu no chiisana tsubasa de_

_omoi no kienai basho made_

_futari de_

_tooi umi wo sora wo koete_

_kurai yoru no naka de_

_watashi wo terashiteru_

_yasashii manazashi no_

_anata ni_

_aitai..._

Her voice trembled a bit after the last note; the song was special to her. Her mother used to sing it, though not directly at her. It was only one of the few memories she had kept when she was still Nagi. Her mother was a songstress; that's how she got the mansions, the money and the fame. The song was a ballad, though there was some melancholic feel to it, like her mother was truly missing someone. She had never been to any one of her mother's concerts, she would just watch her on television and imagined she was in the crowd, cheering with the audience. The weather suddenly grew a bit windy and the atmosphere turned melancholic.

Chrome was frozen in her position out of alarm. The breath coming out of her lips is visible and goosebumps popped on her skin as a faint figure began to form and her fast beating heart slowed down when the mist formed into the person she wanted to see for the past days; Rokudo Mukuro. He smiled gently at her while she just stared at him with awe, not trusting her words for the moment. He broke the silence and patted her head with such gentleness that it was impossible to think he was capable of doing such a gesture. Her lips suddenly cracked into a radiant grin and embraced him with her hands around his waist, not caring if she looked pathetic right now, nor the tears falling from her eyes as the Mist guardian chuckled and embraced her back, "Kufufufu, You've missed me that much my dear Chrome?"

She sniffed and nodded as she dropped her hands and took a step back, a dark hue of red staining her face as Mukuro looked at her, "Unfortunately, my time here is short." He held up a hand when Chrome opened her mouth to interrupt, "It seems we're not the only illusionists present and that person had targeted you. Keep your guard up and remember to stick with the Vongola. Never trust anyone but them Chrome." Before she could utter a word, he was gone. The cold atmosphere still lingered even before he left. A sudden rustle in the nearby bush made her jump and a small shrill of an injured bird rang out. She walked towards the bush with her legs shaking, '_It's just a dream, it can't hurt me. It's just a dream'_ she repeated over and over again like a chant.

She cautiously peered through the bushes and saw a small brown bird twittering with what seems to be like a broken wing. She cupped the frightened bird in her hands and looked around. There was nothing around that can help her make a splinter so she had to improvise. She sat on a log and placed the bird on her lap, securing it so it wouldn't fall and looked for a flat stick. Since there was none, she took a part of the log's bark and placed it on the broken wing. Her nightgown was not really sturdy but it can somewhat help.

A small smile appeared on her face as the bird hopped around on the ground while chirping in a more natural tone as she set it down. A sudden sound of footsteps made her look up and saw a tall and lanky man wearing a cloak and his face was hooded. "Who… are you?" she asked. The mad didn't answer as he approached the tiny bird and leered at the animal, that was trying to hop from his reach, "Birds are really funny aren't they? They can escape anything with their ability to fly. But clip off their wings, they are so helpless. Don't you think?" She stared at him and watched in horror as the man's foot was above the bird, knowing what he intended to do.

"No stop!" she screamed as she tackled the man with incredible force. She fell on the ground, taking the man down with her. She felt the air in her lungs knocked out of her as the man swatted her off of him. "Why would... you do that?" she asked as the man stood up and dusted off his cloak, "Humph, so a weakling also defends its fellow weakling huh?" He sneered as he looked into her eyes though she can't see his, "You can't always hide behind your fellow guardians forever, little vessel." The man stepped forward and in a split second, he was right in front of her, playing with a stray lock of her hair, "Do you know who you can trust?" he chuckled darkly and then she felt a sudden pressure in her stomach. He smiled menacingly and stepped back, she felt something wet on the area where she felt the pressure and laid a hand on it. Her eyes widened as she looked at her hand to see it completely stained with blood. Her lips trembled and her whole body convulsed. Her blood-curdling scream echoed throughout the meadow.

"Nooooo!"

_**End of Dream Sequence**_

* * *

Gokudera woke up like electricity had surged through his body. Screams came from Chrome's room yet again but this time, there was something different, like something was torturing her. He rushed in the bedroom and saw her screaming and tried to wipe something off of her nightgown. He gasped when he saw her suddenly scratching on her hands, wounding herself in the process with shallow gashes that drew small droplets of blood. Her eyes were unfocused and her hands kept rubbing and rubbing until he yanked it apart and made her look at him, "Hey, snap out of it!" Chrome suddenly muttered words, "Blood... man... blood... blood everywhere!" Gokudera shook her a bit before he held her head in place and made her look into his eyes, "Chrome there's no man! It's just a nightmare, you're hurting yourself!"

It took him ten minutes to calm her before he retrieved the tranquilizing syringe and pierced it on her arm. Her thrashing stopped and her head fell against him. He rubbed her back as gently as he can while her breathing was ragged and her face buried on his shoulder. "Thank you..." she muttered as she laid her head, he grunted with a hint of impatience and turned his head on the wall clock and sighed, 'Freaking four in the morning and school doesn't start for a few more hours…' He suddenly stiffened when Chrome's head started to lid further down his chest, "Hey don't get too comfortable!" When she didn't respond, he pulled her away a little to see her face only find her already sleeping again. He laid her back to bed and closed the door as he exited the room with the empty syringe in his hand.

Gokudera jumped on his couch and leaned back his head on the armrest as he stared on the ceiling, "I thought those dreams have stopped… I better report this to Reborn-san and check-up on the progress of guarding the Tenth with those Shimon guys…" Something in the back of his mind kept nagging that there's something not quite right with those people and he wanted to know if it would be a threat to Vongola. He sat up and took a wad of paper from his bag, "So… that Aoba-guy can handle grass-head's attack and come out unscathed, Suzuki Adleheid is most likely the leader, Katou Julie… who cares, That UMA (Shitt P.), interesting, I better get more info about her, Ooyama Ranji gets along with the aho-ushi but he still doesn't show his abilities, Kozato Enma… a useless guy. Lastly, Mizuno Kaoru will be on guard with Yamamoto at Nami Middle grounds." He stretched his arms and turned on the television to kill time.

Tsuna ran towards the baseball grounds and saw Yamamoto wearing his baseball uniform with Mizuno on the pitcher's mount. Yamamoto noticed him running towards him and waved cheerfully, "I heard from the baby that you're gonna help him with his pitching while he's guarding you right? Don't worry, I'll guard you too!" Tsuna stopped to catch his breath and answered, "Tha… Thanks Yamamoto-kun!" He looked around the whole area and noted they were the only ones present, "Eh? Where is the rest of the team?" Yamamoto scratched his chin lightly while grinning sheepishly, "They all took off as soon as they heard that Mizuno was coming for practice. Maybe they're too anxious to meet him."

'Everyone's afraid of him!' Tsuna mentally squeaked. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard someone talking or moreover; lecturing another person. He turned around to see Gokudera talking to Chrome who looked paler that usual. Gokudera was in mid-sentence when he saw Tsuna and ran towards him with a huge smile on his face, "Good morning Tenth!" Chrome followed with a much slower pace, Yamamoto saw her and gave a wave, to which she responded in a more diffident manner. Tsuna turned at his self-proclaimed right-hand man, "Ah Gokudera-kun! Will you be joining us?" Gokudera shook his head, "Iie, I have something to do. Plus Tenth…" he leaned in closer to Tsuna's ear and whispered, "Chrome Dokuro had another nightmare, she said Rokudo Mukuro had passed her a message and it might be a clue as to who's been messing us around."

Tsuna's eyes grew wider as he looked back at Gokudera's serious face, "Did you tell Reborn?", when he shook his head, Tsuna groaned and raked his hand on his hair. He spotted Chrome walking next to him with a blank expression on her face, "Buon Giorno bossu," she greeted with a quiet tone. "Good morning Chrome. Did Mukuro wanted to say something?" he asked as he examined her face. Her face was certainly pale; the darkness under her eye was already a sign that she had trouble sleeping. One of the signs that pointed to her crying was the tint of redness and her nose was freckled with flecks of red hues. Her lips remained locked while her knees trembled; he opted to talk to her later so that she could explain things properly. Speaking of Reborn, the Arcobaleno was no where in sight and made him sigh in relief, "Maybe I can make an escape route from the Inheritance Ceremony and-"

"Don't tell me you're thinking up on pitiful ideas." A voice chimed; an awfully familiar voice that he dreaded.

He turned around and saw Reborn dragging Enma and pushed him forward, "As you can see, I also brought your equally pitiful friend."

He blinked at the transfer student and gawked at the sight, "Enma-kun!" His uniform was tattered and torn, face and hands full of scratches and bruises and a mysterious substance smeared on his cheek, "… is that sauce on your cheek?" he asked as Enma licked his cheek with his tongue. The redhead nodded glumly and fixed his collar, "I was about to have some takoyaki when a dog tried to steal them so I had to have Reborn save me from it…" Tsuna was a loss for words when he tried to sympathize with him, '_Even I never had a dog trying to steal a takoyaki from me_' he mused.

Chrome shifted her stance into a straight back position when Reborn eyed at her, like he knew what had happened earlier. Nevertheless, he nodded at her and gave a formal 'Ciaossu' before planting himself on one of the benches and turned his attention on the muscular teen; '_Now, let's see what Mizuno Kaoru can do_' Shimon really caught his interest, but rather relaxing, he became more suspicious with the mysterious students ever since the little episode in Tsuna's house yesterday.

Yamamoto crouched on the mound while Kaoru lifted a wooden stick that strangely resembled a bamboo sword onto his shoulders and prepared his stance but didn't do anything to indicate he was ready. Yamamoto tilted his head sideways and gave a cheerful smile, "Is there anything wrong Mizuno? You can throw now!" The teen still didn't move, causing everyone to look at both of them with curiosity and confusion. The rain guardian continued to encourage him to start the game, "Throw me a good one and show the rest of the team what you're made of! If you manage some impressive pitching, I'm sure they'll change their minds!" Tsuna and Enma blinked at Yamamoto while Chrome felt herself take an involuntary step backwards when Kaoru's muscles twitched and threw the 'bat' on the ground.

"This is a waste of time!"

His shout made Tsuna cringe and yelp at the loudness of his voice while Yamamoto just looked questioningly at his partner, "Don't you want to throw Kaoru?" he openly asked. He said nothing and just replied with a nod.

"But I thought you wanted to be a pitcher?"

_Nod_

Tsuna's face deepened into a frown, 'It's more like a one-sided conversation. It's no use Yamamoto-kun, he's way too scary!' To his surprise, Yamamoto chuckled, "Hahahaha, what's that suppose to mean? Then take your time and just pitch whenever you're ready!" Kaoru was surprised by this, even Chrome. She never met anyone as kind as the rain guardian. Kaoru bowed his head and mumbled "It's just that… I'm… embarrassed to throw in front of other people…" he ended with a blush across his face.

Almost everyone except for Reborn and Enma looked astonished at his sudden revelation. Tsuna had his jaw wide open and yelled "WHAT THE HECK?" while Chrome just gaped at him, Reborn just stated, "A shy one huh?" Yamamoto, for whatever reason; had a blank look at his face before an understanding dawned upon his face, "I see, so you get nervous when there were other people watching!" Kaoru blushed and gazed on the ground and nodded, "Yeah…"

The baseball player smiled optimistically, "Then let's overcome that fear!" Reborn leaned back on the chair and crossed his legs in a casual way, "There's a saying that at times of fear, one should swallow 'people'. What you do is write 'People' on your hand thrice and swallow it so you can calm down." Kaoru shook his head stubbornly, "I've already tried it. It never worked." Reborn tsk-ed and thought about another suggestion as Tsuna and Chrome walked closer to the sun Arcobaleno; "How about imagining that the people watching you were vegetables? You won't get nervous if you're surrounded by tangerines* or pumpkins right?"

"I tried that, but I still get nervous"

'_This is one tough cookie. At this rate, I won't be able to see his real strength…_' Reborn thought as a frown made its way to his face. Tsuna shifted his weight on his other leg and looked worriedly at the burly blonde as Chrome yawned and her eyelids started to droop a bit and the lack of sleep started to catch up to her. She rubbed her eye with the cuff of her sleeve at the same time keeping herself from falling asleep while standing. Their train of thoughts was suddenly interrupted when Yamamoto spoke up, "Y'know, a long time ago, my little league coach taught me some good advice regarding that vegetable method. He said the reason why it doesn't work was because people were lacking the image of people _are_ vegetables" Everyone stared at him with a questioning stare. Reborn hopped on his shoulder with a small grin on his face, "Oh? So what's the good advice?"

"It might take some time but-"

He whispered on the baby's ear that no one can understand that they were talking about, Reborn's small grin grew bigger and bigger.

"That could work"

...5996...

Chrome blinked as she sized up the costume she was wearing, which strangely resembled a purple yam. "Uh…" She looked at everyone else and can't help but stare at awe. Everyone looked positively at eased with their outfits, maybe except for Tsuna who swore that his onion costume was a bit too tight. Reborn called for Haru-chan to help them with the plan and everyone else came along to help; Kyoko, Bianchi, Futa and I-pin with Lambo and his 'sidekick' Ranji. Bianchi and Kyoko hurried with Haru to distribute the garments to them while chatting away with Chrome. They heard a yelp with Tsuna's voice overlapping, "Enma-kun! Are you alright?" with a muffled, "'M alright…" and Reborn expertly slipped into a small eggplant; "All right everyone, places!"

They all lined up with the taller ones at the back, Tsuna as the onion with Kyoko as a carrot, between them was Chrome in her yam costume while Lambo and I-Pin were bouncing in their broccoli and bell pepper suits. Bianchi and Haru yelled, "You can do it!" while everyone else followed the suit. Needless to say, it worked. In Kaoru's eyes, their faces disappeared and replaced by the picture of actual vegetables.

"It's like I'm in a salad bowl…" he mused.

"Don't forget the image of vegetables in your mind!" the Arcobaleno quipped while Yamamoto nodded in his corn garb and readied his glove, "Right on! Let's give it a throw!"

Kaoru nodded and stood his stance. His left leg up and shot straight and with all his might; threw the baseball with ferocity and speed that everyone must've dropped their jaws to the ground. Yamamoto felt something hit him with much pressure that he let out a grunt. He looked at the glove but to his surprise-

"The- the ball disappeared?"

Reborn's eyes narrowed at the huffing Kaoru, "What is that Kaoru Mizuno made of?"

Yamamoto's laugh broke the tension and wiped the sweat from his brow "That was great Kaoru! You have to teach me one of these days!" His natural optimism made everyone laugh along with him, their previous apprehension now forgotten as they removed their veggie costumes. Everyone chuckled good-naturedly as Tsuna struggled to take off his with much difficulty since the zipper was at the back. They never noticed Adel's shadowed form on the background, eyes steeled and her mouth in a straight grim line.

Gokudera ran around the Namimori District, trying to scrutinize every nook and cranny for any suspicious person. His mind kept wandering back to the earlier episode at the apartment. 'Not coincidental… Chrome's getting worse with every nightmare. What a great timing, along with the Tenth's inheritance ceremony. And_ coincidentally the_ same time as Shimon had arrived.' He stopped running and stared at the ground… could it be that…?

He shook his head and banished the thought in his head 'Nah, it can't be' He knew this was not the right time to harbor suspicion with the Shimon who was not-so-willingly helping them guard Tsuna. Taking on one last round of scouting, he walked off towards his apartment with his hands in his pockets.

* * *

A/N: That's that. Please R and R, if you have questions, suggestions, anything just leave me quick pm or review and it will be duly noted.


	14. Confession with myself

Author's Note: Hey it's been... Woah a little bit more than a year? I'm so sorry and I hope some would still read this story. I had the major case of writer's block as big as Mt. Kilimanjaro and I actually forgot that I have stories to update. Now I will take responsibility for this and take it back on track thanks for the support and hope you'll leave a small feedback!

To my dear reviewers:

**1111010101010101010delete101 00**: I hope you will still read this fic

**HelenMayson**: Hehehe it wasn't actually part of the plot but I'm glad you liked it

**chrome-yuuki:** Yeah, I haven't even written something for 5996 for a while so I might have been a tad rusty as well

**PearlLover2019**: Well good luck in your fic xD I'm gonna follow the time plot but I'll tweak the events for some good 5996 moments :)

**dragonbook**: Well I'm back so let's do this thing!

**hizume5996**: I'm actually in progress of posting them hope to see you there xD

**Laciesmilegirl**: Nah, I considered it my wake up call. Thanks for reading!

Well thanks for readers and those followed and faved this story, you can count on me to update it soon :)

So, here we go!

Disclaimer: I don't own KHR!

* * *

**All about Acceptance**

**\*\-5996-/*/**

* * *

The morrow came with Gokudera walking by the streets, checking any unusual activities. He walked through the shopping district and pulled a grumpy face when he saw Katsuo tending the flowers with Ueada guarding everything to make sure it's all in order. Predictably, the alleyways were quiet with only the stray cats poking in the garbage cans.

"The guards who're on duty today are me and Chrome. We musn't let anything happen to the Tenth. Only a couple of days before the Inheritance Ceremony and I won't let anything happen that will make the Tenth look bad!" he hissed as he took sharp turn and made his way towards the Sawada house.

He first caught sight of Chrome talking to Nana. The older woman looked concerned as she subtly measured the girl's thin frame and lack of proper weight. Nana's eyes shifted to Gokudera's direction and flashed him a warm smile, "Good morning Gokudera-kun!"

Gokudera politely smiled back and walked slowly inside the house while Chrome excused herself and trotted next to him with a weak grin. He lifted a brow but didn't think any of it as they waited for Tsuna to come out.

Within a few moments, they heard couple of shouts from the house and Tsuna ran outside with a burnt toast in his mouth, his uniform disheveled and his hair was messier than usual.

"Sorry I'm late" he apologized, "I overslept because I had to do my homework late again last night" Gokudera shook his head, "It's alright Tenth! We'll make sure nothing will happen to you"

"You can count on us!" Chrome peeped, earning a surprised look from the two boys. "You're so energetic today" Tsuna stated, making her blush as she met Gokudera's eyes and shifted her weight from one foot to another.

"Is- is it weird...?" she asked. Although she was directing it to the storm guardian, Tsuna shook his head with an encouraging voice, "No, just different but it's nice to see you this upbeat". The walk to the school was in one word, normal. They met up with Yamamoto who was chatting up with Kaoru with their baseball gear at hand and Ryohei was egging Koyo for a race.

School was also uneventful and the only thing interesting for Gokudera was the UMA, Shitt P. who was sitting on her head with her feet folded in an indian position. He spent almost breaks to following her. Although his duty was to protect the Tenth, a chance to communicate with an UMA was too good to pass up! When dismissal came, the 'UMA' suddenly opened her eyes and jumped right out of the window.

Gokudera's jaw dropped and he ran to the window to see her bouncing like a ball with the tubes around her body.

"That one's unusual" a voice came from below his elbow made him jump backwards and saw Reborn casually leaning on the pane.

"D'you think that UMA can even cooperate with us?"

"Of course Reborn-san! I- uh, I'll bring her back!"

"Seems pretty useless to me" the Arcobaleno quipped, knowing that Gokudera won't back down. He was proven right when Gokudera's eyes widened and ran out of the room yelling, "I'll bring the UMA back Reborn-san!"

He threw his school bag to Chrome who caught it with ease. She blinked at his retreating figure and can't help but feel an unsettling feeling in her stomach that made her frown. She turned to Reborn who sat on top of Tsuna's head and said, "Consider yourself relieved from your duty today. I'll have to check on something and tell Gokudera that there will be a meeting in Tsuna's-dame's house tomorrow." Chrome nodded and walked out of the classroom and closed the door behind her.

The uneasy feeling still lingered within her system as she made her way through the lockers, easily deflecting the dirty looks some girl still throw at her. Thankfully that nasty girl from before hadn't shown up still and it actually made her life in school easier.

She saw a small crowd of girls giggling and in the center of it was Julie. He was flirty with a couple of blushing girls with his smooth words and winked at them that one almost hyperventilated. Ducking behind their backs to avoid his radar, she managed to get away from them unscathed but on her peripheral vision, she saw a glimpse of Suzuki Adelheid looking at their direction with something undecipherable in her eyes before she disappeared in the hallway.

The bright day gave her an air of happiness though it felt as if her mood was still dampened by something though she can't put her finger on it. She had the sudden urge to have a longer walk so she took the longer route to the apartment complex. A small song entered her mind that made her hum along with it, her mood suddenly uplifted.

"Shittopi-chan!"

The familiar sound of Gokudera's voice rumble on an nearby lot. She quickly ran to the direction where the voice came from and saw Gokudera talking to Shitt P. The said girl calmly turned around and took of her glasses and revealed a pair of cerulean eyes framed with thick lashes. "Yes, Gokudera-kun?" she asked, her voice clear like she wasn't even tired from all that running while Gokudera looks out of breath. She walked in front of him with her hand on her hips ('_She has a great figure_' Chrome thought), "Let's protect the Tenth Vongola boss together!" She made a peace sign and Gokudera looked dumbfounded.

"Make the peace sign" she instructed and tilted her hand down. He mirrored the gesture and his face rippled with shock as she connected their fingertips. To Gokudera , it was one more step in communicating with UMAs and gaining access to their world. To Chrome; it looked so much more. She unconsciously held Gokudera's bag to her chest closer and felt a small pang in her heart. Slowly, she walked backwards, not missing the way his face lit up like a kid in a hanabi festival, she felt that sinking feeling in her stomach again. Maybe taking that detour was a bad idea after all...

* * *

Gokudera hummed happily as he went his way to Nami middle, only to find that it was empty. He looked at his watched and cursed when it read six in the evening. He sighed deeply and went back to his apartment. Still, he had managed to communicate with Shitt P. and that alone made this day great by a mile. He entered his apartment to see his bag on the sofa and a smell of food being cooked indicated that Chrome was already preparing dinner. He took off his blazer and placed it at the back of the chair and turned on the television. The usual news of the rising economy has flooded so he switched it to another channel. There was nothing good on, full of game shows and animes that bore the hell out him.

"Dinner's ready"

Her bell-like voice snapped him out of his reverie to see Chrome near the kitchen threshold, not looking at him directly while her hands were twisting the edge of her apron. He stood up and quirked a brow when she took extra steps back just to avoid any close proximity between them, not like he's intending to anyway.

The food was good as usual, but he kept noticing that she had been stealing glances at him. It grated on his nerves and finally, he placed down his chopsticks and pulled an irritated expression, "What the hell is your problem?"

She flinched but she kept her head down and continue eating her rice as though she didn't hear anything. He muttered angrily and continued with his food. Not long after, she started to look at him again. He tried to keep himself calm but the rising tension annoys him and he lifted his head and took a deep breath, "What's with you? Earlier his morning you were livelier and now you looked as though someone killed your pet or something-"

"What happened to you earlier?" she interrupted. He stopped abruptly and gave a confused look, "I ran after U- I mean, Shitto P-chan and asked her if she could cooperate with us in guarding the Tenth. She said she will do whatever it takes to help us" the way he said it with a reassured smile to himself that gave Chrome a sudden urge to stand and run to her room and lock it. _'He called her 'Shitto P-chan..' He used to call her UMA..'_ she mused.

"Oh..." was all she replied.

He kept a wary eye and turned to his ungainly, spearing it with the blunt end of the chopstick, "What happened with your guard duty while I was away?" he casually asked. She looked up and slowly dropped her gaze again, "Reborn-san escorted the boss home. He told me to tell you that we will have a meeting in the tenth's house."

"Aa"

That was the last conversation they had that evening.

After cleaning up the dishes, Chrome locked herself in her room, explaining she has homework to do. As soon as the lock clicked, she walked to her bed and embraced the pillow close to her. Her lower lip quivered and her eye spontaneously let tears flow. She gulped a large amount of oxygen and the air she exhaled came out through her mouth.

'_It took Shitt P-san just half a day to make him look like that... And I... I don't even know his birthday'_

Granted she also didn't know Mukuro's but when it came to him... it was more important to know the trivial things. The little things that makes him happy or angry; a brief image of a smiling Gokudera entered her mind made her smile but at the same time made her stomach clench. She took another deep breath before she sat up and wiped her eye with the back of her hand. With a final sniff, she shook her head, pushed her names out of her face and went out to wash her face and start on her assignments.

The living room lights were off but the desk lamp was lit and saw Gokudera hunched over his paper, his glasses on and his hair tied with a rubber band. He didn't seem to hear her since he didn't look up, that, or he's just flat out ignoring her. Turning the knob of the bathroom, a rustle was heard from behind and as soon as she turned around, she saw him stretching his arms and scratched his head. With one last look, she slowly closed the bathroom door.

**-5996-**

The meeting in Tsuna's house was grim.

Reborn had reported that a family with ties to Vongola had been attacked and to Gokudera's disbelief, it was the legendary assassin family, the Giegue. They were defeated by the boss of the enemy who wanted to interfere with the inheritance ceremony. Tsuna's face blanched as the report stated that it happened by the factory near Namimori fifth avenue. Unfortunately, they had no leads and this made Tsuna grow tenser regarding the event. Gokudera stood up and assured him that he will do whatever her can to make sure everything will go smoothly. Everyone else followed his suit and marched out to guard the surrounding area and report any suspicious people lurking about.

Chrome who usually stayed with Gokudera had insisted to go with Ryohei and Yamamoto. The others didn't mind so much except for Tsuna and Gokudera since she never really voice out her choice.

The following days have passed and things have settled except for Chrome's determination of avoiding him at all costs. The teen didn't really give it much thought until he woke up one morning and found he was covered with a blanket after accidentally sleeping on the couch again. He ask her about it only to have her squeaking an excuse about laundry and ran out of the apartment.

He didn't know why but there's a nagging thought that Chrome is more quiet than she normally was, strange but true. By this time at night, they would have been asking questions to one another (actually she was the one asking) before they would retire before nine to work on their school assignments. He caught her face before she entered the washroom for her nightly rituals, still refusing to look at him. He shook his head and concentrated on the term paper that was to be passed the day after tomorrow. While writing the paper in a furious pace, he tried to remember about a good experience. He had talked to an UMA and now, he's a step closer to obtaining information about other forms. Somehow, that happiness was drowned by the weird attitude Chrome showed. Was she hearing voices again? Night terrors? No to both, she would have immediately told him the second they were alone days before.

She said it herself-

_'I feel safe with you...'_

She said that right? And as much as he tried to deny it, he's getting used to her presence by now that it was weird not to hear her working in the kitchen or waking up after sleeping on the sofa to find a blanket on his body. Grunting with annoyance, he put down his pen and waited for the bathroom door to open and ask the girl about her tepid mood.

Within a few short minutes, she walked out with her face refreshed and let her hair down. She looked at him and stared as he sat on his chair, staring at her as well.

"Um, is there something wrong?"

"Yeah, it's about you" he bluntly answered taking note of how she bit her lower lip, a gesture she uses whenever she got caught of doing something. "Are you still seeing things? Or having nightmares?"

Chrome couldn't find the words and now, she can't even tell him what she was feeling since she doesn't even know it herself. These were one of those times that you wish you have a girl friend so you can open up to- well she has that but they might be preoccupied right now. So she just shook her head, "Iie, they've stopped for now." The emphasis in the 'for now' part was deafening but Gokudera didn't seemed to be finished asking, "Then what happened that day while I was gone? You're so quiet and you don't even make eye contact, like what you're doing right now" he pointed out.

She looked away from the wall behind him and focused on his face. Upon looking directly at his face, she felt her own warming up and dropped it to the floor. Gokudera sighed and slowly rose from the chair, his hand behind his head and walked straight to her. She tried to step back but found herself frozen in her position and within moments, he was in front of her.

"I told you that you have to let people get close to you right?"

She just stood there, staring at his shadow and dared to look up before she heard him sigh and gave her a tentative pat on the head before he walked past her and out to the front door.

"I'll be making rounds along the streets for a while, don't wait up"

Chrome turned around quickly and opened her mouth only to see the door close. She placed both her palms on her cheeks and felt it was burning. Now she's sure it wasn't sickness. And the sudden flutter in her stomach and the way her heart beats faster than ever before. She likes him, more than Mukuro-sama and the boss... Now what?

**-96-**

She woke up and rushed to get ready for school. With her uniform at hand, she ran out to see her 'roommate' already in his uniform and his bag in his hand. He looked at her once before walking out without another word. That simple action had hurt her more than a punch or a slap, and partly it was her fault. For being ignorant and for avoiding him without any given reason. Depression got the best of her that she suddenly didn't feel like going to school. She's committing truancy but one time won't hurt anyone.

With a hesitant heart and a shouting conscience, she slipped in a dark green hoodie and her Kokuyo skirt and boots. Knowing that she will get in trouble, she hid her school bag and just took a satchel to hide her trident.

**-59-**

Gokudera yawned loudly as he, Tsuna and Yamamoto walk past the gates of the school. He was more on the edge right now as we'll as the other guardians and Shimon since it was only one day before the ceremony. Before the first bell could ring, he and Yamamoto steered Tsuna to their class. He entered the room to expect Chrome only to find her empty seat.

He clicked his tongue as he sat down, silently wondering where the girl would be. Minutes flew by and as soon as the teacher took their attendance, he kept looking at the door, expecting that any moment now, the petite girl would come in and bow low to the teacher and explain why she was late before going to her seat and listen to the lecture while taking notes.

It didn't happen.

**-5996-**

Chrome looked around the busy streets of Kokuyo. She munched on a pocky stick and leisurely made her way through the crowd of shoppers. A sudden chill on her spine had forced her to turn and look around to see if someone's following her. Then she saw the fedora that belonged to a certain lecherous man, who was now right in front of her. She gasped and took several steps back, her hand automatically flew to her satchel. Julie smirked as he advanced in front of her and casually threw an arm around her shoulder, "Now what is a lil cutie like you doing, ditching class? Mm?" His smirk grew to tenfold when she tried to squirm away and her body was shaking.

_'Hello little vessel_~'

_'That voice-_' she thought before she pulled away from him with a scared look on her face.

He winked at her and leaned in close to her face, "You better watch out Chrome-chan," he sang out her name syllable by syllable, "Danger's in every corner. Don' cha worry, I'm here for ya!"

With the last chuckle, he turned his heel around and walked towards the opposite direction. A shaky breath made out of her mouth as she leaned on the wall, sweat beaded on her forehead and she wanted nothing more than to run to the apartment and seek sanctuary in her room. Which is what she did that very moment.

**-5996-**

Students flooded the entrance of the school in a hurry to get home or to hang out with their place. Tsuna ran out like he was shot liked canon and explained to the others that he and Reborn will visit the Ninth in the hotel he was staying. Gokudera insisted that he will go as well but Tsuna told him that he'll be fine and gave him a smile.

He stopped by the baseball field to watch Yamamoto and Kaoru practice before heading his way back to the apartment. A thought pushed into his mind; Chrome didn't come to school, huh, he thought she was too goody-goody to even play hooky. He opened the apartment to find her door opened out widely and saw her sitting on the bed with a pillow in her arms.

She looked up in alarm as soon as heard him walk across the living room. He looked at her closely and saw that her face was pale like she had seen a ghost. "You didn't go to school today" he started, "What happened?"

"Ah- I went to Kokuyo street and saw Katou Julie" saying that name had sent chills in her spine. Gokudera made a face and leaned on the doorway with his arms crossed, "Did he do anything to you?"

"No, nothing unusual it's just-" she stopped and started fiddling her fingers.

"What is it?" he asked. Something spooked her this much, the night terrors seemed to have stopped but she was still scared of something, "Do you want to tell the Tenth about this?" She shook her head and slowly stood up, "No, the boss has already a lot of things in his mind and I don't want to cause any inconvenience"

He sighed and placed down his bag on the sofa. Chrome watched as he open the refrigerator and took out an energy drink, gulping down the entire drink with just one swig. They stared at each other awkwardly before he started walking out of the door again.

"Where are you going?"

"I'll make one last round by Namimori Avenue and the school. We can't let our guard down especially when the ceremony's tomorrow. It's an important event for Vongola and dozens of mafia families from all over the world will be attending it" he explained, putting on his sneakers. She took her jacket and said, "I'll go as well!"

He looked at her with confusion in his eyes, "You wanna come with me?"

"Hai, I want to be useful. I want to help you because everyone's been working so hard"

"...Alright, if that's what you want"

* * *

The night air was chilly and several drunkards that came from the bars had stumbled their way home. Gokudera had pushed Chrome along the wall to shield her from their wandering eyes before they walked around the streets and checked the alleyways for good measure. "The last stop is Nami Middle then we can head back" he said as he surveyed the long street filled with students, some from their school were there as well.

While walking down the road, Gokudera felt her looking at him sideways and turned his head to her direction, "Alright, what's the problem."

"Huh?"

"Don't play dumb, you can't fool me. You have been avoiding me ever since we guarded the Tenth at school. Did I do something?"

For him to ask something that trivial was unorthodox but he can't live with a person who can- no, won't even look at him let alone talk to him. They're in the same family and things will get rough if there's tension between them. _'And I kinda missed the times we were playing twenty questions'_ a small voice chipped at the back of his head. He momentarily stopped and shook his head violently before he pushed on like nothing happened.

Chrome looked at him dumbfounded before she picked up her pace to walk next to him. Somehow she felt comfortable enough just to be next to him. She could be herself and open up to him whether it's about her opinions or feelings. And his reactions ranged from funny to something filled with wisdom and understanding. She gave a small smile which he didn't fail to notice before she wrapped herself in her jacket as the cold winds blew. He can feel her shivering and made a stop to a nearby vending machine, punching in some yen to purchase a coffee. Grabbing the cup, he held it in front of her before she took it with a stain of pink on her cheeks.

"Thank you"

"Aa"

Within a few moments, they have reached the gates. It was still opened though it was only for sports club members and Hibari was still on the prowl so Gokudera checked the grounds first before letting Chrome in. The school was relatively spooky at night and Gokudera knows how creepy it was especially inside. Chrome silently looked on the windows and immediately regretted it when she thought she saw a figure standing by the window on the second floor. A small rustle of the leaves were heard and an eerie sound of the howling wind made it even scarier. Out of sheer fear, she walked closer to him and unintentionally embraced his arm. He didn't say anything except with a grunt of "troublesome girl" but didn't shake her off. Near the baseball pitch, she let go of his arm and suddenly whispered,

"I'm sorry..."

"It was just the wind-"

"No," she shook her head and looked at him straight in the eye, "I'm sorry I've been avoiding you. Something happened to me and I just realized what it was. But it was no excuse, I didn't give you any proper reason and I had no right to act like that" she finished before taking a deep breath and blushed as he watched her.

"So, what was the reason?" he asked.

_'I like you'_

The very thought made her blush deeply that she thought steam would come out of her ears. She blinked several times before she bit her lower lip and clasped her right hand on her left forearm, "I'm ... still uncomfortable sharing it with anyone," 'Especially you' her mind added.

"Well, whatever" he brushed off and continued on his way to the stands. He almost tripped when she suddenly took hold of his shirt and yelled "But-!"

He composed himself and turned around, an irate expression on his face, "What?!" he almost yelled at her but his voice did raised a bit. She didn't flinch nor did she shy away, instead; she gave him a determined look and a smile stayed on her face, "When I'm ready, I will tell you" she assured him.

"If it's that important, why not now?" he pressed on.

She looked conflicted for a second or so before withdrawing her hands and clasped them behind her, "Because I wanted to be sure if what I've realized was true and if I'm going to be able to handle the consequences." The answer she'd given him was really different from her usual timid self and it was quite refreshing to have a conversation with her without any awkwardly pauses. She let out a breath in relief when he nodded in accepting her explanation, "If you put it that way then I'll be waiting."

'_Wait, 'I'll be waiting'? This sounded like a dialogue from a cheesy novel written by a nut job_' he thought.

Chrome grinned in return and they walked to the baseball club's base. Gokudera knocked loudly on the door and called out, "Oi, baseball freak! Did anything weird happened?" There was no answer and Chrome noticed that a river of light came from behind the quarters, not just the windows.

"Gokudera-san!" she pointed it out and Gokudera's face suddenly darkened.

"Stay behind me" he barked. His hands in his pockets, holding on to his bombs as they saw rubles scattered in pieces and gasped when they saw the back of the locker room was destroyed and left a gaping hole on the wall, exposing the baseball locker room. But that was the very least of their problem.

Before they could even come in, Chrome smelled the unmistakeable scent of copper, making her hold on to his shirt which he didn't notice. The sight of the bloodied rain guardian was enough to make him blanch and Chrome felt the stinging waves of panic, shock and pain that evoked tears in her eye. The cheerful and friendly Yamamoto lied on the ground in a broken angle, his flesh had been sliced up and blood flooded the floor. The only indication that he was still alive was his shallow breathing and the inconsistent rise and fall of his chest. They both snapped out of their trance and Gokudera went into panic mode.

"Chrome, lean him on the bench!" he roared as he punched in Ryohei's number and immediately told him to come as soon as possible.

Waiting for Ryohei was difficult. Those five minutes were the longest he had ever experienced. As soon as Ryohei stepped in, he took in all the blood, the faces of the two and their comrade's plight. He took out his box and called out his box animal, hoping it could heal their friend, even just to close the wounds.

"N-no way" he whispered

"What is it?" Gokudera dared to ask

"I can't heal him. His wounds were too deep" his voice cracked in the end of the sentence "We have to get him to the hospital!" Gokudera nodded and helped Ryohei carry Yamamoto carefully in his arms. They ran with all they could, yelling at other people to get out of their way. Chrome tried not to look at the droplets of blood being poured on the sidewalk like a trail as they reached the emergency unit in the Center Hospital. Several people gasped at the baseball player's state and he was rushed to the available bed. They were told to stay outside while the doctors performed an emergency surgery to close his wounds.

Gokudera paced furiously and yelled out random curses before he took out his phone and dialed the number the Ninth had given him. His could feel his hands turning cold and winced as he watched Chrome sitting on one of the plastic seats and saw her jacket stained with blood as well.

It was the mist guardian who answered and made him pass the call to Tsuna. As soon as he heard Tsuna's voice over the phone, he felt as if he was punched right on the gut with a lead hammer.

"Gokudera-kun? What's wrong?"

"Te-Tenth" he stuttered, he found himself shaking and so was his voice, "Yamamoto was attacked in school. It looks bad- really bad and- and-" he found that he could no longer speak before he felt a warm hand clamped to his cold ones. He looked at Chrome who looked at him, tears still flowing from her eyes but her face had an encouraging spark that regained his strength. He let out a shaky breath and continued with a more composed tone, "We took him to the Center Hospital- Yes, we will."

He clicked the call off before he sunk on the chair and buried his head in his hands. Chrome knelt in front of him and rubbed his shaking shoulder with her hand, not knowing what to do. She suddenly felt him leaning on her so she took her seat next to his and let him rest his head on her, wondering on what she could possibly do to ease the pain of both their wounded friend and the strong storm guardian who was now silently sobbing on her lap.

* * *

Author's Note: How was that? Good or 'I wanna gouge my eyes out bad'? I need reviews people! Pretty pleeeeeeeeeeease? Oh and no flames please, except if they're flame rings xD


	15. Broken, angry, afraid but still standing

A/N: Well, nothing to say except thanks for the two who still reads this story, I shall do my best for the both of you.

ebi-bluenerd: Yes, and now I really committed!

HelenMayson: Yeah, sorry about the long wait and thanks for being patient with this long overdue-ed update.

That's it.

Disclaimer: I don't own it.

Warning: Mild OOC for the purpose of the story, vulgar language and violence.

* * *

**All about Acceptance**

**\*\-5996-/*/**

* * *

Thousands of thoughts ran in Tsuna's head within seconds as he ran from the hotel to the hospital where Yamamoto was admitted to. Why? Why would they do this to one of his friends? He already turned down the title as the Vongola Decimo and this has to happen. He felt nauseous, angry beyond belief and greatly fearing for his friend's life. Gokudera's voice was shaking and that was a really bad thing; he noticed he was shaking as well and his eyes were now welling up in tears.

As soon as he saw the white building, he dashed with all his might before he came running inside the hospital. The sterile smell instantly hit his nose and people looked up to see him pass by them like a blur. A receptionist stood up with a clipboard in her hands and tried to catch up, "H-hey, that's the emergency surgery unit, you can't just barge in!"

He finally slowed down as he saw the three guardians outside of the door with the red light on above it. Ryohei stopped his pacing and Gokudera, who was previously leaning his head on the wall and his hand, was hidden from his view instantly stood up and ran towards him, "Tenth!"

There it was again; the panic in his voice, Sasagawa-niichan had a very distressed look in his face and Chrome was silent with her face pale and her jacket stained with blood. A chilling thought entered his mind before he broke into the double doors and saw a couple of surgeons with their masks on. And on the operating table was bloody rain guardian with an oxygen mask on his face. The machines beeped in rhythm with the fall and rise of his chest and the white blanket was slowly drenched by the red liquid.

The young vongola couldn't breathe; it was like he was slowly drowning into an abyss and swallowed by the darkness. He opened his mouth and yelled out for their fallen comrade.

"Ya-YAMAMOTO!"

-•-

"Boss, have some water"

Chrome nudged a paper cup filled with the clear liquid but Tsuna shook his head as he sat on the plastic chair. The doctors had him out of the room and told him it was vital that the room should remain sterile before they could perform surgery. Ryohei chewed the tip of his thumb as Gokudera recounted how they found him; Tsuna was only half-listening though. He didn't know what to do, didn't even know what to think.

Minutes ticked by before someone, he couldn't decipher who, proposed to call Shimon as well since Mizuno was the last one to be with Yamamoto prior to the attack. Adelheid answered and pressed that they will be there as fast as they can.

Ryohei took a a long breathe from his nose and leaned his forehead on the wall, no doubt Hibari would be out for blood since school property had been destroyed under his watch. He turned to ask Gokudera and was taken aback when he saw Chrome talking quietly with Gokudera and it looked as if she was calming him down as his hands shook with anger.

If it was under different circumstances, he would have laughed or even stare at the impossibility of the development. But then again, Gokudera is a guy and Chrome could be good for him, maybe even lessen his obsession with UMAs and Sawada's safety_ all the freakin' time._

Half an hour past before the Simon arrived. Adelheid, Kaoru, Koyo and Rauji arrived with Lambo sitting on his shoulder, unaware of the solemn air around them.

"How was he attacked?" Adelheid asked while she crossed her arms, face neutral and void of any emotions.

"He might've been caught off-guard, Yamamoto's not that easy to beat" Ryohei said, punching the wall with his fist.

"Tsk, so stupid" Gokudera suddenly spat out, "He kept his guard down in a time like this, what the fuck's he thinking?!" his words were coarse but his concern echoed with his tone.

"Considering that they were strong enough to take down a Vongola guardian, there's a high possibility that they might also be the ones responsible on taking out the Giegue family" Adelheid concluded.

Koyo nodded and placed a hand on his chin, "If that's the case, then it means we still have no clue who the culprit is" he concluded.

Ryohei let out a growl of frustration while Gokudera cursed up a storm. Kaoru was silent and kept his gaze on the white floor. He could feel cold sweat breaking on his forehead and something was clawing at his insides; guilt. Adelheid kept a wary eye on him while Koyo acted like nothing bad was happening.

"You were the last one with him weren't you?"

A question rattled him and he looked up to see the sun guardian looking at him but without any suspicion in his eyes. "Yes," he answered "But I already left before he was attacked." The lie left a potent taste in his mouth but he stood by his actions. _'Remember Kaoru, they need to suffer. What we're doing is an act of justice and for the sake of Shimon'_ Adelheid's voice echoed in his ears before he closed his eyes.

"We're not necessarily at a lost. There is a way to find the culprit"

They all looked at the hallway to see Reborn calmly walking up to them, "I went to the scene to investigate and I found a clue that will give the answer to who had been the cause of the attack"

The Shimon exchanged looks before Reborn spoke directly to the Vongola, "It is valuable information and it's linked solely to the Vongola. If the Shimon would be so kind as to leave us, we would like to discuss something between ourselves."

Adelheid's eyes narrowed and her lower lip pursed, "Why not share this information? We can help you in a great deal if we're also enlightened by this." Reborn gave a neautral smile and crossed his arms, "Thanks but it's vital for us to have a little privacy. We appreciate your concern and you should all get some rest as well."

One by one, the other family exited the hospital before Reborn said to Adelheid, "Keep each other safe, you might get attacked as well"

Tsuna's eyes widened as he heard this. Yes, Shimon might also become a target and a fleeting image of Enma entered his mind. Lambo changed from Rauji's shoulder to jump in Chrome's arms stating he was hungry and sleepy. The girl picked at her pockets before retrieving the last piece of grape candy and gave it to the toddler who promptly slept in her arms after eating the sweet.

Ryohei and Gokudera stood in front of Reborn before the hit man opened his findings, "Yamamoto had left a clue."

"A clue? How?" the boxer asked.

"He had written something with his blood. A large portion was covered up, no doubt by the culprit but there was an important part that he didn't erase. A word that, at first didn't make any sense to me until I solved it. If pronounced in hiragana, it would read as '_deritoto_' but if translated in romaji, it's '_delitto_'. Translate that into Italian... it is 'crime'."

Tsuna slowly lifted his head to look at his tutor. Gokudera tilted his head, "Well that would make sense but-"

"The other word means 'Sin'" Ryohei said. Reborn nodded and placed his hands on his hips, "There is a bottle that will be given to the succeeding vongola boss in the inheritance ceremony. It is called the 'Sin"

"A bottle?" the mist guardian asked quietly.

"Mm. This bottle contains the memories of the Primo and hus battles. To the entire Vongola family, it is the proof of being the new boss. Legend has it that in the bottle contains the blood that was shed during the battle."

"Wha- _blood_?!" Ryohei gasped

"I didn't even know there was such a thing!" Gokudera said.

Ryohei looked thoughful for a moment and asked the arcobaleno, "But why would Yamamoto write that? Unless..."

"That's right Ryohei," Reborn nodded, "The culprit's motive is the sin. And yhe only time the sin will be exposed for public eyes is during the inheritance ceremony so the timing is perfect so it will be obvious that he will come at the Inheritance ceremony. That is... if there will be one."

"What do you mean Reborn-san?" Gokudera asked.

Tsuna stiffened and avoided Reborn as he bore his eyes on him and announced,

"Tsuna declined the title as the Vongola Decimo"

"N-nani?"

Gokudera felt his heart drop and looked at Tsuna and hoped he would say it was just a joke while Ryohei stared at him with a tone of disappointment seeping in his tone, "Sawada..." Chrome quickly turned to Tsuna whose head dipped lower to his hands before he lifted his face up and his hands clenched into fists, "No. I will ask the Ninth to resume the Inheritance Ceremony. I will avenge Yamamoto and protect everyone!"

Reborn secretly smiled before he pushed the rim of his fedora and turned to Gokudera, call up the Ninth and explain the situation. But first things first; tomorrow we have to act as if nothing happened."

Everyone froze at his words as he explained, "It sounds cruel but we have show everyone that nothing's wrong. If word gets out that a guardian was defeated, we will be targets and no doubt the ceremony will be halted. The culprit will leave and give us no chance to know who it is."

Tsuna swallowed audibly before he stood up and waved his hands at Reborn- "B-but everyone will notice Yamamoto's missing! It's impossible for a guardian to be absent in the ceremony!"

Reborn sighed before giving Tsuna a patronizing look, "Idiot, use that brain of yours"

"Huh?"

He turned to Chrome who already knew what he had in mind. "This is the important role of the mist guardian. You will make an illusion of Yamamoto. If they believe the trick then there won't be any cause for stirrings and the culprit would act oddly." They all nodded except for Chrome who said, "But I don't know if I can make something like that perfectly. I might fail"

"You'll do just fine" Gokudera suddenly said while his phone was on his ear. He immediately turned around when they stared at him at his sudden vote of confidence. Tsuna smiled for the first time that evening and patted her on her shoulder, "Gokudera-kun's right, just believe in your ability"

* * *

Everyone left the hospital and went on their separate ways when they entered the intersecting path. Chrome handed the sleeping Lambo to Tsuna and watched him and Reborn walk the rest of the way home. Ryohei was distracted but bounced back since he gave them a wide smile and even made deliberate jabs at Gokudera to lighten the mood. Only the two of them were left before they made their way to the apartment. Chrome felt her eye drooping from exhaustion but fought it off. Gokudera was on red alert and his hand twitched to his vest where he stashed some of his bombs every time something move. As soon as they arrive, Chrome rushed to the kitchen and prepared some tea. He threw himself on the couch and rested his left forearm over his eyes. He was exhausted; physically, mentally and emotionally. He never thought someone could even be at par with their strength but it came crashing down on them like a ton of lead.

Everyone has to be on guard now since no one is safe. Even the Giegue family, the famous assassination group he had greatly admired were eliminated without any warning. A flash of Yamamoto's wounded body almost made him wretch. Seeing these kinds of things should be normal as a mafia member but to see it happen to a friend; it was really had to swallow. And if someone as strong as Yamamoto had been brutalized, what would be the fate of the others?

He saw Chrome's figure bustling in the kitchen, looking for a pot holder, which made his resolve stronger. He had to protect them. The Tenth whom he will give his life for, his friends who became his comrades in battle and the girls who supported them in every way they can. And her... because he felt it was natural for him to look after her.

His right hand felt warm as she held on to it when they were waiting for the boss to arrive. He thought she was trying to comfort him but at the same time, she was also looking for comfort as well; a human connection but strangely enough he didn't mind it in the slightest. Wait-

What the hell is he doing?

_He's a guardian for fuck's sake_! The right-hand man of the Vongola Decimo and his most loyal and faithful follower! He couldn't afford any distractions and he won't let anything hinder him from his job. Even if it means alienating himself from the opposite sex. And when this is over... everything should go back the way it was; him in his own apartment without anyone else occupying it and her- in Kokuyo Land with those Mukuro-loving freaks.

Chrome came out with a cup of tea in both hands and placed in on the coffee table. The tea was still steaming so they waited in silence before they could drink it. Gokudera gave a small sigh before he took his cup and sipped his tea. It burned his tongue a little but at least he couldn't see how she was watching him with the corner of her eye.

Chrome also took her tea but she just stared down on it and focused on the reflection of her face. Her hair stuck out in different directions, her bangs covered her medical patch on her right eye and shadows started to darken the skin under her eye. She took a deep breath and a sweep of adrenaline made her feel talkative all of a sudden.

"Gokudera-san?"

"Mh?"

"Do you think... I mean when this is over, do you think we should still _ano_- live together?"

A stunned silence enveloped the whole apartment.

Gokudera just sat there, looking at the tea before answering-

"It would better if we talk about this after the ceremony. Besides, it's not like we have to be stuck together. My primary mission was only to befriend you and wait until the Kokuyo friends of yours got back from who knows where."

Chrome nodded but little by little, she felt as if her heart cracked a bit. She had almost forgot that Reborn was the one who ordered Gokudera to look after her so he has no obligation towards her as soon as Ken and Chikusa returned home from their training.

A statement entered her mind and made her feel like a horrible person, an awful human who didn't deserve to have friends and made her feel selfish. She stood suddenly, making Gokudera jump at her abrupt actions before she excused herself and went in her room.

* * *

**_Hello little vessel  
_**_  
Who's there?!_

_**Nufufufu, it's been a while hasn't it? Did you have fun playing house with that boy?  
**__  
What do you want from me?_

_**All in good time my dear, we will soon see each other, face to face  
**__  
Get away from me!_

_**I'm afraid you don't have the grounds to order me around.**_

_Someone, please, help me_

_**That's right my dear, go and scream for help. That's all you can do~**_

_N-no please. Someone, Mukuro-sama!_

_Mukuro-sama, onegai-_

_GOKUDERA-SAN!_

"Kyaaaaa!"

Chrome woke up with another screech, prompting Gokudera to bust her door and ran in to find her shaking and her eye darting everywhere as if looking for something. "Oi, was it the voice again?" He got his answer when she flinched and hugged herself. A wave of sympathy washed over him before he hesitantly wrapped an arm around her shoulder. She looked at him and saw a light blush dusting his cheeks as he made the awkward gesture. She secretly smiled before she could feel his discomfort and lightly pushed him away with a determined look on her face, "Just a nightmare" she lied between her teeth. He looked at her before he nodded and lifted himself off the mattress and closed the door. But not before saying, "Get ready within an hour. We will get our suits in jyuundaime's house."

Chrome mopped her soaking forehead and stood up, noting how much she was shaking before slapping herself with both hands to remind her that this was the worst time to have a breakdown. Everyone's counting on her to pull the illusion off so the culprit can finally be traced. With a deep breath, she opened her bag and pulled out her old Kokuyo uniform and donned it on, almost relishing the memories while wearing this outfit. She pulled up the upper section of her hair and tied it into the distinguishable pineapple style before she opened the door and locked the room.

-—•—–

Numerous people, majority were of men filled the rented castle by the cliff side of Namimori, no one realized that this was the gathering of all the mafia families all over the world. Elegant ladies wore lavish gowns and sexy cocktail dresses while men wore their best suits and put their best foot forward as the limo stopped by the driveway. Everybody stopped what they were doing to see the successor of the Vongola walked out of the car with his tutor and his guardians on tow. Most were shocked at how young they were while some, like the Tomaso family smiled and bowed in respect. Tsuna felt uncomfortable as several people bowed at him as they passed by. Many more came to shake his hand, Gokudera attempted to thwart them off of him when they were holding on to him for more than ten seconds. He looked at the Yamamoto-replacement; physically it was exactly like him but his facade was a bit too quiet and didn't possess the real one's liveliness and cheerful vigor. Still, he had to give props for Chrome but the girl seemed a bit worse for wear. She looked distracted and her face suggested she didn't have any rest at all. Then again, neither did he; and he's sure Ryohei nor Gokudera hadn't had enough sleep either.

"Tsuna!"

He looked around to see Dino walking through the crowd with his turtle on his shoulder. Ladies swooned at the sight of him and commented about his handsome face. They exchange pleasantries as the guardians kept a wary eye around them. Some looked shady enough while others looked as if they were just here for the food and the party. Everything looks peaceful before there was an unholy "VOOOOOOOOIIIIII!" entering the scene.

Guests gasped as a young man with long silver hair jumped out of the helicopter with a couple of odd looking fellows behind him. The Varia had indeed arrive. Dino played the mediator as he approached Squalo with a friendly smile, "Hey there Squalo! Where's Xanxus?"

Squalo cocked a brow for a moment before he clicked his teeth together, "Tch, the boss ain't coming. Like hell he'd show up." Several people commented about his brash behavior but he doesn't give a shit and marched right up to 'Yamamoto' and said, "Oi, you better not be skipping your training!" Chrome felt a rush of panic swell in her chest. How does Yamamoto react to something like this?

"U-uh- Of course not! Ahahaha..." The stuttering alone made Squalo and Dino realize that this was not the real one so they dragged Tsuna to one corner and began to question him. Gokudera seethed at their action and looked at Chrome who looked as if she failed a big test and was approached by the mist arcobaleno. He let out a sigh when he saw the Arcobaleno was just reassuring her before he was dragged away by the crown wearing lunatic. Soon, several more came and the grounds were almost full.

A scuffle was heard near the southern gate so they went there to investigate. The large burly man laughed as he placed a well-aimed kick on another person, "Shimon Family? Never heard of them before, you losers don't belong here!" The man's companions shifted away so Tsuna could see the face of the person, it turned out to be-

"Enma-kun!"

The red haired boy lifted his wounded face and softly replied, "Tsuna-kun..."

Tsuna ran in front of him and uncharacteristically gave a glare to the men. They shrunk back when the guardians minus Chrome, who helped Tsuna get Enma up, gave them cold looks and a nonverbal warning.

"Enma-kun, I didn't see you yesterday. Where were you?"

Enma didn't say anything which prompted a Tsuna to say that he was going through the ceremony after all. The other Shimon family gathered around them. Chrome automatically stood between Gokudera and the Yamamoto-illusion as soon as Julie came closer with his lecherous grin present on his face. But they didn't notice the shift among the Shimon's expressions as they saw Yamamoto, the Vongola were too absorbed in looking for signs of danger; they didn't notice that danger was just a head's breath away.

Everyone in Vongola suddenly shivered as they felt something cold in their spine; a dark murderous aura that reeked of pure evil. It can only be one thing

"Hibari-san!"

The prefect came without Kusakabe and wore his Vongola suit. Reborn looked positively pleased on seeing the cloud guardian, "I never thought I would see you alone in a crowd"

"A student was attacked in school grounds. I will bite to death the person who did that crime" he answered monotonously.

The others sighed in relief, if Hibari's here, their power was tripled and now they had time to ease up a little before Reborn told them they should start the ceremony.

Everyone filed into the castle and saw the ninth generation guardians in the middle of the ballroom with Timoteo in front. Tsuna approached them, walking on the rich red carpet along with his friends behind him. They memorized their posts as Reborn told them and surveyed the area while the ceremony takes place. Before they split up, Gokudera managed to hold on Chrome's wrist and whispered, "Be careful"

Chrome felt her heart soar at his concern and replied in an almost inaudible tone, "You as well" before they went to their assigned places.

"The Inheritance Ceremony will now begin" Schnitten announced. The Ganauche III held up a pillow that cushioned an aged wooden box that was lined with gold. "This is the ceremony where the 'sin' will be passed on to the successor, proof that he is the legitimate Vongola boss. The Nuno will now pass it to the Vongola Decimo."

Everyone held their breath as the Ninth opened the box to reveal a cylindrical bottle with blood inside. 'That must be the sin' Tsuna thought before he looked at the man who lifted his hand and took the bottle out, "I shall now pass this to you, Decimo." Tsuna lifted his hand to take the sin before an awful screeching sound vibrated through the whole castle. It was so loud it made almost everyone fell on their knees. But that was not the end, within a few moments, several beams of the castle exploded, littering everyone below with smoke and falling concrete.

Chrome couldn't breathe nor couldn't see, she had inhaled too much of the smoke and tried to crawl her way to the middle with her trident at hand. She felt someone step on the back of her leg which made her yelp in pain, then she felt a pair of hands letting her stand and she turned to see Gokudera with his nose covered with a handkerchief, "Keep close to me!" he yelled through the cloth and navigated his way through panicked guests and jumped out of the way when they saw a slab of concrete falling from above.

It was then they heard something crash on the marble floor.

Gokudera swore under his breath and told her to stay put. He charged towards the Ninth guardians and barely dodged another falling concrete before he saw Tsuna and the Ninth who was holding on to his arm. Tsuna looked at the broken bottle on the floor before Timoteo reassured him that the real 'Sin' was safety hidden in a safe guarded by the seven flames. Their relief was short lived when Brow Nie Jr. was thrown out of the room while cradling his ring hand. The smoke cleared of and seven shadows emerged from the safe. Everyone gasped in shock except for Reborn.

"So, the culprits behind attacking the Giegue family and Yamamoto... the Shimon." he calmly stated.

Tsuna kept his eyes on the person at the middle with a disbelieving look in his eyes and the information can't seem to process in his mind due to shock, "Enma… kun?..."

* * *

A/N: That's it, **read and review**. Most of you do the first part but not the second one so let's try and make this clear for whiners alright?

I'm not obligated to write in my whole life since I don't even get paid for this. Believe it or not, I have a life outside the computer so before you go threatening to stop reading my story you're free to bitch wherever you want. I will understand if you had been giving me feed backs and even advise and suggestions but if you're just here to read and suddenly pm me with bullshit, you got another thing coming alright? This is not just for that one person but for anyone who can understand that pressuring someone to write is simply rude and inconsiderate. I am happy with whatever reviews you give me as long as it's for the progress of this story and if you have any questions.

Be safe people and see you next week with another update. Oh! Before I forget, whoever can guess what Chrome had thought of will receive something special from me :) No, not a virtual kiss or something like that but more like a story with whatever Chrome pairing you want (no yuri please).


	16. What Doesn't Kill You

A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the late update. Internet is so slow like a snail the whole week and I was like "F*ck this damn internet!" and went to the computer shop armed with my trusty USB. Anyways, thanks for all the reviewers, you are my most favourite people in the world! Virtual hugs!

**Hayden-Strife**: Good luck I'll be rooting for you!

**HelenMayson**: Aaaaw Thanks! Now hold on to your seat because it gonna be a bumpy chapter!

**jp0022**: Really? Awww thanks for giving 5996 a chance!

**MayanMoonFlower**: Thank you for the support! I shall do my best!

**Guest (anon):** I'm sorry for causing you depression :(( I will make it up to you! Anything you want just ask :) Thank Kami they weren't OOC whew that almost killed me

**Guest (Fanglet):** Mmmm I'm kinda debating about it but hehe, let's just find out! Thanks for the compliment hahaha xD

People, I have 90 reviews, how about we aim for 100 for the next chapter? YES I'm looking at you 'Read and Run' readers, I can see you through the chapter traffic hits! ANYHOW, I will pick from the reviewers and give them something nice in return. Anything as long as I can do it hahaha xD

Disclaimer: I don't own KHR!

Warning: AU plot line (well obviously since this is fan fiction) Mild OOC for the purpose of the story, vulgar language and violence.

**All About Acceptance**

**\*\-5996-/*/**

Everyone stopped breathing for a moment as they stared the assumed weak family. Tsuna was speechless as he stared at Enma who looked at him with cold empty eyes, Tsuna instantly knew this wasn't the Enma he had been friends with. Reborn's face was blank, neither shocked nor angry but his hand that was holding on to his pistol was shaking, his eyes zeroed in on Enma as well, who apparently, stood in the middle.

"So Adelheid isn't the leader" he simply deducted.

Enma said nothing as he opened the bottle and drips it onto his hand, which then transforms into a gauntlet.

"Why...? S-so- You guys were the one... who did that to Yamamoto?" Tsuna asked. He already knew the answer but he prayed he was wrong. Kaoru opened his mouth and took a step forward, "I did it to him. He was so close to uncovering our cover without even knowing so I had to take care of the problem."

Tsuna felt a burst of anger flow through his veins as Gokudera and Ryohei started to advance with their eyes filled with rage. "Stand down!" Reborn barked. The two simultaneously backed away while the Arcobaleno confronted them with a hard look in his eyes. "Why are you so hell-bent on taking the Sin?"

Enma took a step forward, his entire aura screamed with anger, "Because the Vongola Primo, Giotto had betrayed the Shimon Primo, Kozarto. They were childhood friends and promised to have each other's backs but then, Giotto and his guardians betrayed them!"

Silence surrounded them and Tsuna was the first one to break it, "The Primo would never do that!" Timoteo nodded as he held his wounded arm, "There was no historical proof of that event as well"

"You sound as if you knew him personally," Adelheid sneered, "You weren't there when it happened. That's why we will show the entire world the betrayal of the beloved Vongola and their disgusting act." Enma took over and boomed, "We will take our place as the greatest famiglia and bring forth the punishment to Vongola that was long overdue, with the seven earth rings!"

Enma lifted his right hand that was covered by the gauntlet with a dark maroon shade of light and aimed it at Tsuna and swiped his hand on thin air. Tsuna flew across the room; all of the oxygen in his lungs was forced out of him and for a moment, he thought he had passed out before opening his eyes again to see the Shimon attacking his friends.

Gokudera used his box and activated the Sistema CAI to protect the others. Ryohei advanced forward to unleash his Maximum Canon only to stop short as Adelheid's flame ring burned bright before a wave of icicles speared towards him. Hibari jumped in front and destroyed several icicles but didn't manage to avoid the others. It pierced through him in his shoulders and sides that he gritted his teeth in pain.

Lambo was about to use his ten year bazooka, when he looked up and froze in fear as Koyo's form towered over him with his hands formed into fists with red flames. With a brief flash of a cruel glint in his eyes, he was about to punch Lambo only to be snatched away by Chrome who threw herself at the lightning guardian and shielded the child from the attack. She pounded the blunt end of her trident and a curtain of purple mist surrounded them as she attempted to thwart Koyo but the teen took off his glasses and emerged through the illusion and narrowed the distance between them.

Tsuna decided he couldn't stand to watch his friends suffer anymore and prepared to use his X-Burner. With his dying flames burning furiously, he flew towards the Shimon and managed to punch Koyo away from Chrome but he felt something hit him from behind. The dying will flames falter a bit from his forehead and hands before he turned to see Enma with his gauntlet aimed at him and stared at him in a deadpanned look.

"I thought you were different from from the rest of them Tsuna-kun. But you really are Giotto's descendant…"

A sudden weight dropped in his whole body; even in his dying will form, his knees buckled under the weight and slowly felt his bones and muscles strain under the pressure.

"Tenth!" Gokudera yelled out, his voice was coarse as he watched Tsuna who couldn't even lift a finger against Enma. He tried to run in between them only to be blown backwards as Kaoru placed a punch on his left side. He deflected a critical hit and managed to be thrown a couple of centimetres back and saw his fists burning with light blue flames.

A flashback on Yamamoto's bloodied form burned in his mind before he took out his bombs and threw them at Kaoru, "Eat this you bastard!" He then took another round and frantically threw them towards Kaoru in different directions. With a flurry of air bombs and his last stick of dynamite, he flung it directly to his face.

He quickly ran the opposite direction to avoid the aftershock of his attack only to narrowly miss a kick that was aimed at his head that came from Shitt P. He gritted his teeth and threw a punch, only to be rebuffed with a kick on his stomach. The force threw him across the room and into a pillar. Spit flew from his mouth and his ears rang loudly in his ears like an annoying buzz.

He wiped his mouth where spit and blood came dribbling out before he stood up, ignoring the pain in his ribcage suggested he broke something and the way his legs were protesting against the movement. He took a step forward only to have his foot slowly sinking.

"What the hell?!" he yelled as he tried to withdraw his foot. Gritting his teeth, he took out his flame box, "Gatto Tempesta!" and within moments Uri came out of the box, his fur bristled as he hissed at the eccentric woman.

"Uri, Cambio Forma!"

Uri growled and with a flash, he turned into a ball of red light and flew to Gokudera's left arm. He turned into an ornamental skeletal bow with a roman numeral of 1 appeared and a large beam of red forming into a shape of an arrow was now aimed at Shitt P. The young woman stared at it for a moment before she jumped out of the way as he prepared to take aim.

He fired at her with accurate precision, or so he thought as he missed her by a few inches. A curse escaped from his lips and dashed to aid the others only to see Katou Julie who was slinking behind the shadows observing Chrome who was dodging a huge jaw that resembled a beetle, only to discover it was Rauji's flame and his whole body surrounded with armor.

Twisting his body towards her direction, he threw an Uri bomb at Rauji and tackled-slash-caught Chrome within his mid-leap. He covered her head against his chest as the bomb went off; effectively cutting off Rauji's attack but also sent them flying to another pillar. But before they could hit a solid wall, they felt being thrown at the middle of the room and in a split second, he saw that all of them were dangling on the ceiling before they were forced down like a rocket plummeting to the ground from space. He knew he was losing consciousness; the throb of his head echoing in his ears like a rumble of thunder, his body screaming in pain, his flames diminishing and his eye sight bleary. He was about to succumb to darkness but he saw the form of Katou Julie who was walking towards Chrome, who was right next to him, with his hands reaching out.

Something inside him roared and gave him enough energy to lift his upper body and placed the fainted girl under him, "_What the fuck you think you're doing?_ Don't even _think _about touching her!" he roared, his flame ring gave a short burst of energy before he felt the adrenaline began to ebb away. Feeling drained, he fought to keep his eyes open and watched Julie's usual patronizing face turn into something more sinister, forbidding. It was like staring into the face of the Grim Reaper himself and know that only impending doom will wait as soon as you saw his face.

Tsuna was also conscious as well but he was in worst condition and before they knew it, several cracks were heard between the fallen Vongolas.

The fourteen year old dared to look at his flame ring only to see it shatter against his finger and turn into dust. _'Wh-what?'_ his mind began to whirl and he found himself losing against the embrace of unconsciousness.

_'Shit! Not... Yet...'_

Through the battle cries, weapons grating against each other and panicked screams of guests, Gokudera could hear Squalo arguing with Timoteo and apparently he was winning since he yelled out his signature "VOOOII!" and the shape of a shark that came out of nowhere appeared. The Varia had joined the battle despite the Ninth's wishes and it was of good fortune.

"About fucking time..." he whispered as he closed his eyes.

**-5996-**

Voices...

That was all he could hear.

He couldn't decipher the words being said, whether he knew who the speakers or not. All he was well aware was the beeping sound he had heard just recently but he knew it was not for Yamamoto. The events that happened during the ceremony hit him full blast; bits and pieces swam alig his mind like a river of memories. The explosion of the castle, the attack of Shimon against Vongola, how the Ninth generation guardians were powerless against them. How close Chrome was from being kidnapped by that bastard... How Tsuna crumbled under the power of the true leader which was Enma...

How his ring shattered...

Blinking under the glare of white lights, Gokudera Hayato found himself in the hospital.

Only a few gasps of air were all he could breathe through the oxygen mask. He slowly turned to his left to see Ryohei who was still knocked out, a large portion of his head was heavily bandaged and his younger sister sat beside his, softly sniffling as she held on his hand as gently as she could. A pang of panic washed over him and forced him to sit upright only to be gently pushed back to bed by his sister.

"Baka, don't act so reckless or your wounds will open up again" her tone suggested she wanted to be strict but her eyes painted relief and concern and marred with anxiousness and fear.

"Tenth?" he asked as he took off the mask from his nose and placed it on the bedside table.

Bianchi nodded and took a cup from a paper bag and filled it with water, "He's with Reborn; they're talking about something important."

Relief filled his entire being as he laid back on the bed; his chest felt tight and heavy and his hand stung. Finally, he looked down to see the extent of his injuries. White bandage wrapped tightly from his chest to his hip, a piece of gauze peeked from his upper torso and his right hand was attached to an IV drip.

"You've broken three ribs, luckily it was past your lungs or it would've been punctured and you have a large cut near your stomach" Bianchi said, peeling an apple with a knife. A basket filled with fruits was present on each side of the table but it was obvious that it was the hospital staff that placed it there, no one outside the family knows. Maybe except the girls.

Kyoko looked up to Bianchi, her eyes watery with redness around them. Sniffing as she held tighter at her brother's hand, she turned to the older woman, "What happened? Onii-chan said they're only going to the ceremony!" she cried. Bianchi pursed her lip and turned to Gokudera who shook his head subtly.

"I... don't know what happened. All I know was that they've gotten in a fight and the police have already been notified" she fibbed. The girl blinked at her for a moment before she turned to face Ryohei again and laid her head on the bed.

Green eyes stared at the white ceiling. There is something about hospitals that made him restless. Whether it was Shamal's base that smelled like disinfectants or the mind-numbing silence that accompanied the patients' ward, he just didn't like it. Turning his head to the side, he saw Lambo, 'Lucky kid' he mentally sighed, sitting by the window sill with his tiny feet dangling by the window. All he got from the attack was several bumps and a band aid taped on his forehead. But he didn't laugh loudly nor did he talk like he usually does. Instead, the toddler just sat there, staring into space while I-pin was looking at him with a worried expression.

Grass head's with him and so was the baka-ushi. Baseball freak might still be in the emergency room and Jyuundaime's with Reborn-san. That leaves Hibari and-

"Where's Chrome?" he asked, ignoring the way Bianchi stared at him as he sat up again.

Bianchi's face fell slightly and Gokudera took it for the worst. "What happened?!" he inquired, his eyes wide as he tried to stand, despite the needle that prodded on his hand held him there with a slight sting. Bianchi calmly strode to his side and stuffed a piece of peeled apple slice in his mouth.

"Calm down baka!" she chastised, "She was placed in the ICU for two hours but the doctors announced she was stable enough to be transferred to the recovery room. Right now, Haru's with her."

Gokudera huffed as he swallowed the fruit, ignoring the burning pain in his throat that was caused by him not swallowing the large portion. He still stood up, despite Bianchi's warning, and tried to put on a hospital gown on his tapered upper body. The action proved to be a difficult feat as he tried to place his arm in the hole of the sleeve. Kyoko moved to help but he snapped at her and insisted he could do it on his own. Bianchi, tired of watching him fumble, quickly clothed him with a rather stern face that he didn't even attempt to brush her off. Yanking of the needle from his hand, he quickly placed back the medical tape to stop the blood from dripping and made sure he was wearing a pair of sweatpants.

The hospital slippers were thin soled so he could feel the cool floor underneath his feet. Poking his head out of the room, he walked slowly into the hallway in hopes that he could at least see Tsuna and be assured that he's safe. Only nurses and doctors were the ones present and the few who tried to make him go back to his room was either locked in spot by a glare or received a frightening bark of antagonism.

"Keep that up and they'll sic security on you and dope you with tranquilizers" a voice behind him said. Gokudeda was so busy with people around him that he didn't even noticed Shamal walking behind him in a casual pace.

"Looking for Tsuna?" he asked.

All he got for a reply was a grunt as they walked by the row of doors that was the same as theirs. Shamal noted how his protégé limped ever so slightly and shifted his weight more on one foot than the equal distribution.

"Chrome-chan's fine by the way. Haru-chan's looking after her pretty well" Shamal said as they approached a nurse station. A woman, middle age with salt and pepper hair looked up from the computer and gazed at the two men. "Can I help you gentlemen?" she asked, aware of the bandages Gokudera sported. Shamal turned on his charming smile and leaned on the counter, "Yes please. We would like to know where the patient Dokuro Chrome is placed."

The nurse's eyes narrowed as she studied Shamal, "And your relations to the patient?"

Shamal's smile faltered a second before a much wider grin spread through his lips. He patted Gokudera hard on the back that made the teenager lean against the counter and earned him a rather long string of curses, "I have no relation to her but he does, he's the boyfriend."

Gokudera opened his mouth to retaliate when the woman sighed in defeat and clicked on Chrome's file, "Very well, she in room 4105, that's the last door on the left." He was too upset with Shamal to even correct the woman's presumption and walked to the corner to the direction of the room. But not before the woman called him out, "You better not get frisky or your wounds will open up! And we just changed the sheets!"

With his face feeling as if it was on fire, Gokudera was halfway telling the woman to go to hell when Shamal dragged him to the room by the scruff of his robe, dodging the curious looks from the by standers and hospital personnel alike.

The man knocked on the door three times before he came inside. The blinds were closed and the lights were turned off. Gokudera saw Haru sitting near the window with her face pinched in slight restlessness and her hands continued to tear a tissue apart and twisting them. Chrome was on the bed with a mint green robe and her eye patch was replaced with a bandage almost similar to Ryohei's. Face deathly pale but her breathing was normal and the blanket covered her to the bottom of her chin to keep her warm despite the heater turned on.

"How's she?" Shamal quietly asked Haru, not even playing his 'flirty playboy' attitude to the pony tail haired girl.

Haru bit her bottom lip as she gathered the mess on her lap, "She still hasn't woken up yet but Tsuna-kun and Reborn-sama had already visited her. I just... I don't know what I could do to help her." She hiccupped a little, and a thin stream of tears exited her eyes, "I feel so helpless, everyone's hurt and I can't even do something!" Shamal sighed and patted the girl on the head, "The only thing we could do now is pray and wait. They're a tough bunch, believe me"

Gokudera slowly walked towards Chrome's side, pulling chair next to the bed and careful not to scrape it on the floor. A hand suddenly touched his shoulder to see Haru offering him some packaged melon bread. He shook his head but she placed it on the table-

"Just in case" she said.

Haru winced when she saw the boy's bandages. His movements were limited and he looked as if he went through hell but nonetheless, he continued to watch Chrome's sleeping face with concentration. Chrome was her friend but she didn't realized how close she was with Gokudera as well, she takes pride of being observant but with things that happened from earlier to other times, she didn't even know what to think. Shamal then steered her out of the room with an explanation of "giving them a private time."

Gokudera didn't notice they were out of the room before he heard a girlish scream with a yell "Pervert!" Shaking his head, he placed a hand on her head. He wasn't the nurturing type but the way he protected her from the fight was something he hadn't done for anyone except the Jyuundaime. He suddenly retracted his hand when he felt her stir. Large doe eye opened up slowly and blinked before she looked around and stared at Gokudera. A soft smile appeared on her lips, "Gokudera-san" she breathed. Gokudera made an effort not to return the smile she ga e him and chose to lean closer, "Hey"

"Where am I?"

"In the hospital along with the others" he answered.

Myriad of emotions played on Chrome's face before she asked "What happened to Shimon? And the boss?" The scene was a blurred in her mind's eye. All she could remember was how everyone struggled to keep up with the enemy and how Gokudera had protected her as she held Lambo in her arms. She must have fainted when the bomb went off. A slight throb emitted on her temple but she brushed it off as shifted her body to her side to look at her companion but saw his jaw tightly clenched and he looked down at his hand. Chrome looked down to his hand as well and noticed something very important missing. His Vongola ring.

"We lost…" he said, more to himself since his voice was soft like more of a whisper, "We couldn't even push them back. Varia might've aided us and the rings… The boss is fine, Bianchi said he's talking with Reborn-san, possibly talking about what happened."

As soon as Gokudera mentioned the rings, she grabbed her own hands and blindly groped around her neck, of course the doctors might have taken the ring but they would've placed it somewhere she could easily find. "They broke" Gokudera said, "The Sky Rings broke when we were trashed by those damn traitors!" His face filled with anger and he suddenly slammed a fist on the table. Chrome felt the statement echoed in her mind, the rings were destroyed. A sound of a bell rang in her mind before she placed a hand on her chest.

"The boss…"

"What?" he asked.

"The boss and Reborn-san might find a way to fix them" she replied.

He hesitated for a moment before he lay back on the chair and combed his hand through his hair and tried to flex his elbow and shoulder which popped. He turned to Chrome and studied her, "Can you stand? We need to talk to Jyuundaime and Reborn-san"

Chrome slowly lifted herself before her elbow gave out, making Gokudera jump a bit as she fell forward with half of her body dipping off of the bed. He held her with his arms while his agility greatly declined as his body was still recuperating and the bandages minimized his movements. Only the top of her head was all he could see as she was pushed against him, thankfully he couldn't see her face that was burning red and her heart thumping wildly that she was surprised he didn't hear it. Gokudera, who was awkwardly trying to sit her up, had his face dusted in light red before he lifted her back to her bed.

"Maybe it would be best if you should sit this one out" he muttered as she brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. She nodded mutely before she turned to look at him, "Gokudera-san?"

"Mm?"

She looked down for a second as if deciding about something before she leaned against him, her lips brushing on the side of his cheek that was dangerously close to his own lips and whispered "Thank you."

Now he knows his face was on fire. He started to spew nonsense and his ears felt hot. But instead of apologizing and hiding under the covers, she stared at him before she giggled at his antics. It was very uncharacteristic of her to laugh aloud, her eye squinted happily and her mouth set upwards and a light laughter exited her lips in a casual manner. He never experienced this before; the kind of smile she gave him was even more nerve-wrecking than Yuni's and ten times more dangerous since he felt he wanted melt into a puddle of goo.

'Keep it together baka!' His mind yelled at him in order to save a shred of dignity that was left in him.

So he huffed and gave a mock glare which she knew was fake, "Next time I'll just leave you!" he threatened.

The smile never left her face as she hugged her knees and tucked them behind her chin, "I really admire you Gokudera-san" she suddenly said. A stunned silence fell around them but Chrome seemed determined. The teen fought the urge to clean his ears with his pinky and ask her again if he did hear what he thought he heard so he just settled with an idiotic "_Wha?_"

Perched on the bed with a blanket around her, Chrome didn't know where the surge of courage came from but she just wanted him to know how she looked up to him, "You're very strong and loyal. And maybe a little... um, coarse-"

"What d'ya mean 'coarse'?"

"But you always help everyone around even if you say you won't" she paused before she continued with a much gentler tone, "You act rough and rude but you're very protective to the people close to you and care for them, even more so to the boss. I want to be like you in that sense." She gave him another smile although it was more like wistful and longing, "I just wish I have enough power to be in the same level as you. All I could do was create illusions and that's it. I don't want to be a burden"

All the things she said stirred something in him. He always knew when people were just saying shit and stuff to get to his good side but her eye rang with sincerity and Chrome wasn't the type to kiss someone's ass. If anything, she was one of the most honest he had ever met. So he gave a gentle pat on her head, a familiar gesture, before he forced his hand on her and rubbed his palm on her head in a rough but playful manner. She was in shock at the unusual gesture that her mouth hung open even when she lifted her head up to look at him.

"Ba-ka" he pronounced the word into two syllables, "I told you no more self-pitying didn't I? Plus, the illusion you did had them fooled for a moment (_that he wasn't sure_) and you're not a burden. If it weren't for you, baka-ushi might've been in a worst situation." He nonchalantly drawled as he crossed his arms and looked at the other direction, trying not to meet his eyes but another traitorous blush ended up on his cheeks.

The door opened to reveal Tsuna and Reborn, who was sitting on the boy's shoulder. A large smile slipped on his face as he saw Gokudera and Chrome; wounded but well enough to sit up and talk, "Gokudera-kun! Chrome!" He couldn't fight the tears of relief as he approached them. The right hand man shot out of his sit and walked towards the decimo.

"Jyuundaime, are you alright? Did you get hurt?"

Tsune held up a hand and gave an apologetic grin, "I'm alright. I'm... I'm sorry" he uttered, his face wretched into a sorrowful expression that hurt both guardians, "I wasn't able to protect you. And because of my weakness, everyone got hurt."

"Jyuundaime..."

"Boss-"

Before they could comfort him, Tsuna was unceremoniously kicked in the gut by Reborn who stood on top of him with a firm look.

"Idiot. So they won a battle, so what? Are you going to crawl under the blanket and mourn with self-pity?"

"N-no but...

"Are you going to let them get away with hurting your friends and everyone else?

"No! But Reborn-"

Gokudera and Chrome chose to stay out of it and watched them like a tennis rally, one throwing the ball to the other,

"But what dame-Tsuna? So what if the rings were destroyed? So what if they got the Sin? Does that mean you're throwing in the towel and let them do what they want without a fight? You will let them tarnish the name of the Primo and shame the Vongola famiglia name?"

"NO!"

"Then what's your excuse?!"

"I-... I'm not strong enough... I don't to see anyone get hurt...but in the end they almost got killed. I'm not strong enough!" Tsuna shouted. Gokudera placed a hand on his shoulder that was shaking wildly while Chrome cupped her mouth with her hand. She hasn't seen the boss this anguished since Yamamoto's attack from the other day. Reborn flicked the rim of his fedora and turned Leon into a cellphone, "Then just get stronger. We're in the lowest place we have ever been and there's no other way to go than up."

The three looked at the Arcobaleno who walked out of the room, Tsuna and Gokudera followed him out but not before Gokudera poked his head by the door and told Chrome to just rest. Chrome wanted to go as well but her head felt heavy and she was so tired that she fell asleep before her head could hit the pillow.

**-5996-**

"I contacted the Nono and told him about the rings" Reborn announced as he stood by the railings of the hospital roof. Tsuna bit on this thumbnail and tried to wipe away the image of Kyoko's heartbroken face when she saw Sasagawa-niichan's state, Kusakabe's shocked expression as they delivered Hibari's wounded body that was exhausted from the fight and Lambo who wouldn't stop crying and demanded to know why his subordinate attacked his friends.

Gokudera sighed, without the rings, how could they fight the Shimon whose rings were even more powerful? What was in the Sin that they so desperately needed and believed that Primo and his guardians had betrayed the Shimon?

He felt a chill in the air and so did Tsuna with his hyper intuition. Reborn was the first to act, his pistol at hand and fired at the shadows. Katou Julie walked from behind the water tank with his patronizing grin and in his arms was-

"Chrome!" Gokudera shouted.

How did this happen? They just left her not five minutes ago in her room!

Tsuna ran towards them but stopped at midway. He didn't have a gear to fight with and so does Gokudera. Turing his head to look at the storm guardian, he was stunned to see a blur run past him despite his injuries.

"Gokudera-kun wait!" He yelled at him but the distraught teenager continued his advances towards the man.

Gokudera dashed towards them, his mind focused on Chrome. One part of him yelled for his feet to stop, knowing he couldn't even fight the bastard on equal grounds but another part of him screamed to rip the bastard's arms off of her. Julie grinned sadistically and hopped off the railing only to be standing in mid-air.

"Now, I'd love to stay and chat but I have a date with my li'l Chrome-chan~!" he taunted and tipped his fedora down and gave them a mock salute.

As if on cue, a cloud of fog wrapped around their form and they began to fade. Gokudera ran by the railing and tried to climb the bars and saw Chrome regain her consciousness and looked at him through her half-lidded eye. She opened her mouth like a whisper; she called out to him and lifted her hand as if reaching out to. A wave of panic came to him as he reached the last row of the rail and reached out for her as well.

Their hands were inches apart...

The fog thickened and their bodies began to look intangible...

'... no, just a bit farther!'

Their fingertips were close enough to touch but it was not enough.

'... Just a bit more...' he chanted to himself before their forms completely vanished out of sight.

Everything around him looked like it was paced in slow motion as he slid down the railings. He couldn't hear what the Jyuundaime was saying, nor what Reborn was telling him to do. He didn't even notice the blood slowly staining his bandages as his wound reopened. All he could process at the moment was Chrome's face as she looked at him while_ he_ was holding her in his arms.

She was right there... just a few distances away from them... and he lost her.

For the third time, he failed to help his family against the threat.

For the first time, he failed to protect her.

* * *

A/N: What do you think? I think if Varia had interfered, they wouldn't have been crushed too badly in the manga and may have prevented Chrome's kidnapping. Now...REVIEW people! Come on, I know you didn't read the entire 16 chapters by accident! Grrrr... Comments, suggestions and constructive criticism are welcomed via review or PM. No flames. I mean it.


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